The Poke Wars: The Beginning
by amv4eva
Summary: The gang is enjoying themselves when May recives a message inviting all of them to the Poke Games, the largest Pokemon competition ever. But something doesn't seem right.Things are changing, and people are getting worried. What could happen next?SHIPPINGS
1. A Message

WOOO-HOOO!! I got it on! This is book one of my Poke Wars series. I hope you like it! Please R&R, and please enjoy!

May was startled when she felt a vibration on her hip. She looked down and saw that her Pokenav was vibrating because a new text message. "Hey, guys" she said, "I got a message!"

"Good for you" Ash Ketchum said, looking up reluctantly from the delicious soup Brock had prepared for lunch.

"What is it?" May's little brother, Max asked. He was about eleven years old (A.N. I don't know how old Max really is, but I'm gonna make him eleven), and had the I.Q. of a twenty year old master pokemon specialist when it came to pokemon.

May flipped the pokenav open and read the message aloud:

"'Dear Pokemon trainers May Maple, Max Maple, Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, and Brock Obsidian (A.N. random name). All of you are invited to the Poke Games, located on the Perena Islands'"

"Where the hell are the Perena Islands? I've never heard of them", Brock said scratching his head. May shrugged and continued reading.

"' You and thirty-one others (thirty-six in all) will be competing in the Pokemon competition of the millennium. More information will be given at the city of New Rouge. If you would like to participate, please text yes back no later than midnight. Thank you'" May finished.

"The Poke Games?" Misty said surprisedly.

"Competition of the _millennium_?" Ash said incredously, "The _millennium?!_ What are we waiting for?!"

"Ash!" Misty said. "We don't even know where the heck these 'Perena Islands' are! What if it's dangerous?"

"We've done things ten times more dangerous than this, Misty!" Ash cried, taking Misty's hands in his. Misty blushed. "Be brave!" "Pikachu!" the small pokemon on Ash's shoulder agreed.

"Ummm… Ash?" Max said. "You're holding Misty's hands." Ash sweatdropped, and quickly dropped her hands.

"So, we're going?" May asked, wanting to type in yes. Maybe they would see Drew…

"I guess!" Brock laughed. May typed in the answer and shut the Pokenav.

The group quickly finished their stew and pulled out. It was only a day's of a walk to New Rouge.

May and Misty hung back a bit behind the guys to talk. The one thing May had missed on her journeys around with the boys was that she was the only girl. But since Misty had joined them a week ago, May had someone to talk to about things she couldn't talk to the boys about. Things like other boys.

"Hey, May" Misty said quietly, as if trying not to let the boys hear what they were saying, "You wanna see Drew?" May blushed a deep pink. "No! Well… I mean-yes- but not as if I like him, just because he's my friend!" Misty rolled her eyes. "May? Who on earth do you think your kidding? I've seen the way you look at him during the contests" May Blushed even pinker.

"Well, what about you and Ash?" May snapped. Misty looked taken aback "Wh-what do you mean?" May smirked. "I _mean_, your always staring at him, and when he turns to look at you, you look away, and then he's the one staring for thirty seconds.Then you switch again. It's kind of funny." Misty got a hopeful look on her face. "He stares at me?" May rolled her eyes and nodded.

"You girls coming?" Brock called over his shoulder. "Yeah!" May and Misty called, and they ran to catch up.

The five some walked for a few hours, talking and laughing together. Finally, they decided to pitch camp and make dinner. May and Misty went to go get the water, Ash and Max to get firewood, and Brock to find some extra veggies (it's hard to keep enough food for both Ash and May).

The girls stopped at the river. Fifteen-year old May looked at the reflection of herself in the clear water. Her brunette hair (most of which was kept back in a red and white bandanna, but two bunches were out in the front) was blowing in the light breeze. Her deep blue eyes matched the color of the water. She was wearing a red shirt, and black shorts under a white miniskirt. She had her yellow pack around her waist, which carried her pokeballs, pokenav, a photo of her family…and the roses Drew had given her in the past.

Sixteen-and-three-fourths Misty's orange hair wasn't blowing much, because of its stiff ponytail. She was shivering slightly in her red t-shirt and thin yellow jacket. Her shorts were the same shade of yellow as her jacket. Her hazel eyes were looking dreamily at the sky.

"I think we should go back to camp" May said. Misty came back to earth and nodded. They scooped up their buckets and started walking to camp. "What's up, Misty? Why were you staring at the sky?"

Misty sighed and said "I looked up, and I swear-"

"There you are!" a voice said. The girls jumped (and spilled water all over themselves) and screamed. "Calm down, it's me, Brock!" the voice said.

Misty put down the bucket of water, went over and slapped hard him in the face.

"OWW!" Brock yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Don't-you-ever-scare-us-like-that-again!" Misty yelled, slapping Brock in the face back and fourth with each word. May went over and grabbed Misty's wrist. "Misty!!" She cried, surprised (and a little amused) at how fast Misty had exploded.

"Don't worry" Brock said, rubbing his face. "I think I deserved it".

"You scared the crap out of us!" May said.

"Sorry…" Brock said, and grinned embarrassedly. "Whatever" May grumbled.

Dinner was an awkward affair that night. No one really talked, except wondering what might happen at the Poke Games. As they climbed into bed, they almost immediately heard the sound of Ash's snores. A few minutes later, Brock's joined, and then Max's, making it a three-part snore harmony. May turned to look at Misty by the light of the fire.

"Misty?" May asked.

"Hmm?" She said.

"What were you going to say earlier? About what you saw in the sky?"

Misty blushed. "Well… I looked up into the sky, and it was so weird, it was like connect-the-dots, and the stars made a word suddenly…" She blushed even redder.

"What?" May asked excitedly. "What did it say?"

Misty turned even redder ('How red can that girl get?' May wondered) "It… it… said- it said…_Ash_".

May's mouth dropped open, then she smirked. "I always knew it was written in the stars you two were meant to be, but not like this" "Shut up and go to bed" Misty snarled, but May saw the red increase even more on her face.

May lay back and thought about tomorrow, when they got to New Rouge. What would happen at the Poke Games? She was excited, but she thought Misty could be right… If they didn't even know where the place was, they might be taking a terrible risk… But they had done this kind of thing before, hadn't they? Maybe it'll work out in the end. It always had before.

May closed her eyes and was soon sleeping peacefully like everyone else.


	2. Cori

God I hope I'm doing this right... If I am, Here is my second chapter! Thank you, all **THREE** of you who reviewed my story. Keep it coming!

In this chapter, Brock gets lucky... you'll see what I mean :)

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, but God knows I want to

Chapter 2

New Rouge was a pretty little town, right on the edge of the ocean. The palm trees swayed lazily in the breeze. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"This place is so pretty!" Misty gushed.

"I just want to find the place to get information on the Poke Games!" Ash said.

"Then let's go to the Pokemon Center." Max said. "I'd be surprised if Nurse Joy Doesn't know about this. It sounds like a big event."

"Good idea" Brock said. The group walked to the Pokemon Center, taking in the beautiful view of the ocean along the boardwalk. Suddenly, they heard a voice calling them. "ASH! MISTY! BROCK!"

They all turned around and saw a girl with long purple hair and an Electrabuzz team jacket.

"Casey!" They said. The girl called Casey ran up grinning from ear to ear. "How's it going?"

"Great! The team is doing great in the playoffs and Matt Glassman-"

"That's terrific!" Misty quickly stopped Casey before she got started. Once she did, she wouldn't stop for anything, even a breath. "Sorry, but there's some big competition thing we need information about-"

"The Poke Games?" Casey asked.

"How did you know?!" Max asked. Casey looked him up and down for a moment, and got two little pink patches on her cheeks. "I-I'm in them" she stuttered.

"You are?!" Ash said "That's great! We were going to the Pokemon Center to find out where to go to get the information"

"You're supposed to go to the Pearl Dock at five o'clock tonight and board a ship called the S.S. Clipper. I think we're gonna get all the info there."

"Really? Thanks!" Ash said.

"We should still go to the Pokemon Center, to make sure that our Pokemon are in tip-top shape" Brock said smartly.

"Good idea, Brock" May said.

"See you later!" they departed for the Pokemon Center. When they got there May looked around at the place.

Off in the corner a pretty girl around Brock's age was sitting with her face in her hands. Brock felt his heart melt.

"Hey guys," He said, taking off his backpack "I'm going to go help out that girl sitting over there" He indicated the young woman in the corner.

"Alright" They said.

Brock walked over to her, and sat next to her. "Excuse me, miss" He said. The girl looked up and looked at him. She had dark brown eyes that were puffy and red from crying. She looked very surprised to see him sitting there. "Is anything wrong?" _That was a stupid question, _Brock thought furiously to himself,_ Of course something's wrong if she's crying._

The girl smiled, and said "I'm sorry, but I'm so worried about my Ivysaur!" She broke down crying again. "It's-It's h-hurt so badly and-and I d-d-don't know h-how to help it!"

"What happened?" Brock asked gently.

"I'm n-not sure" she said, "We were practicing vine whip in the forest, and suddenly, I saw this giant meowth's head-"

"Team Rocket!" Brock growled "I can't believe this! Did they try to take Ivysaur?"

"How did you know?" She asked.

"I've met these people" Brock said. "Don't worry; I'm sure Ivysaur is going to be fine. They've been trying to steal my friend's pikachu for about seven years now. They're not exactly geniuses. Sometimes I'm surprised that they can drive that Balloon"

The girl laughed. "I'm so sorry! I haven't even introduced myself! My name is Cori"

"That's a nice name. I'm Brock." Brock said.

"The thing I'm most worried about is that Ivysaur won't be better by tonight." Cori said sadly.

"Are you in The Poke Games?" Brock asked. Cori nodded. "That's great! So am I!"

"Excuse me" Nurse Joy had come over to tell how Ivysaur was doing.

"Is Ivysaur alright?" Cori asked worriedly.

Nurse Joy smiled "She'll be fine in an hour"

Cori jumped up and did a twirl on her toes. "Oh, thank God! May I see her?" Nurse Joy nodded. "Thank you!" Cori cried. Turning to Brock, she smiled and said "Thank you for comforting me, Brock ", and left.

Brock stood up and walked over to his friends.

"What happened, Brock?" May immediately asked.

"Team Rocket happened" Brock spat "I can't believe they'd try to take Cori's Ivysaur"

"Her name was Cori?" Ash said. Brock nodded.

"So what are we going to do now?" Misty asked.

"I say we wait for our Pokemon, then, since it's only one in the afternoon, we go hang out for a while" Max said.

"Good idea" Ash said. They all sat down in the chairs in the lobby.

Ash, Misty, and Max was thinking about the Poke Games. Brock was thinking about how pretty that Cori girl had been. May was looking around the lobby.

She saw a girl, around her age, talking to a boy who was sitting next to her. The girl's long, brown-gold hair was in two tight braids, with little blonde strands left framing her face. Her blue eyes sparked behind her blue glasses with no rims showing on the bottom. Her faded blue jeans flared out at the bottom, so they covered all but the tips of her sneakers. She was wearing a gray hooded half jacket (one of those things that only go down halfway) over an orange tank top. She was petting a young Eevee sitting on her lap.

Her friend's faded blue jeans had dirt stains on the knees down. His black jacket was tied around his waist and he was wearing a dark blue polo shirt. His blonde hair was covering about half of his forehead, and his hazel eyes were sparkling with happiness. May figured that they were either together or the best of friends. His black backpack was at his feet, next to a dark red one, which was probably the girl's.

May felt a little jealous that the girl could talk to the boy so easily. May could never talk to Drew like that, and besides, he would find some way to make fun of her. And then they would start an argument, same old, same old thing that always happens between them.

"May, our Pokemon are ready" Misty said. "Are you ready to go?"

May grinned. "Let's go for a walk along the beach!"

"Sounds great!" Misty agreed. The girls picked up their pokeballs and left.

"We'll meet at the dock at four-thirty". Brock said, "Then we'll go on the ship"

"O.K. "Misty said. "Come on, May!" The two girls ran off giggling.

"Girls" Ash said, shaking his head.

"Come on!" Max cried. The boys ran off to be boys, and the girls were off being girls.

See? I told you Brock will get lucky!

Drew's coming up in the next two chapters! (Oh crap SPOILERS!)


	3. New Rouge

Wo-Ho! This is the 3rd chapter! For **A Rose For Me A Rose For You**, I meant that he was going to find a nice girl. Just want to say, Sorry about Drew... You'll see what I mean

Chapter 3

May and Misty giggled as they tried on different pairs of goofy sunglasses in a store on the beach. May was wearing big round ones from the 1960s and Misty had tiny ones from the

1970s. They finally pulled them off and left for lunch.

They found a little cafe and sat at an outside table overlooking the ocean. They placed their orders and were talking excitedly about the games when suddenly a voice called "May, hon!"

"Oh, crap" May muttered as a tall young man wearing a green cacturne (A.N. no clue if that's right) and long purple hair came walking over. "Harley" May said, helping Misty out of her confusedness.

"You haven't told your friend about me?" Harley asked, pretending to be hurt. "But I'm your best friend!"

"Yeah, and Soledad's my sister" May snapped, "What do you want, Harley?"

"Are you competing in the Poke Games?" He asked.

"Yes, I am, and I take it you are too, so go away and I'll see you on the boat." May spat at him.

"Why are you being so mean to me?" Harley asked, pretending to be close to tears now. He turned around and walked off shaking his hips and muttering what seemed to be threats to the air.

May and Misty caught each other's eyes and burst out laughing. Finally, five minutes later, they stopped with tears in their eyes. "_That's_ Harley?" Misty asked. May nodded.

"He's pathetic! He's the guy who keeps trying to put you out of the contests?! That man's a joke!"

"He's actually like that to get you off guard, and then he swoops in for the kill"

"He's still gay" Misty concluded.

"Ya think?" May laughed.

Meanwhile…

"Hey, Brock, do a cannonball!" Max called to Brock from the ocean water. He was out on a rock with Ash.

"Max, you can't do a cannonball in the ocean!" Brock called back, "And it's time to come back in for lunch!"

"Coming!" They called. They hopped off the rock and started swimming in. It was going to take a while, since they had gone out about two hundred feet. Brock spooned the stew (they have a lot of stew!) into three bowls and waited for them, sitting on the beach. Suddenly, a voice said "Brock?"

Brock turned and saw Cori. She was wearing a purple one-piece swimsuit. "Hey Cori" Brock said. She flopped onto the sand next to him. Brock felt his face grow warm. "How's your Ivysaur?" Brock asked.

"Ivy's better than ever!" Cori said proudly.

"That's great!" Brock said "Could-"

"Brock, let's get lunch!" Ash said to him, walking over. "Who's this?"

"This is Cori, Ash" Brock said, a little angry that he had been interrupted. "From the Pokemon Center"

"Oh, with the Ivysaur? How is it?"" Max asked.

"Great!" Cori said happily. "I have to go, sorry. I'll see you on the boat!" She smiled at Brock and left. Brock watched her walk away.

"Well, this is a day of firsts for Brock," Max said.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"I mean, this is the first time Brock had a girl come to him, the first time he didn't scare her off, the first time he wasn't begging a girl to marry him, and the first time he wasn't flirting with every girl he sees"

Your right!" Ash said' "What's up, Brock?"

"She's different" Brock said, still looking after Cori. "She's different from all of the other girls."

Meanwhile…

"The _Poke Games_, huh?" a woman with long pink-purple hair said smirking.

"Dat's right!" a meowth said, "I dink dat the twerp's are gonna be dere"

"Then let's pay them a visit" A man with shoulder length blue hair said.

"Great idea" The woman said. The strange threesome laughed manically.

There's Chapter 3! Sorry if it sucks... I was trying to make up time...

next chapter: Drew's here! So there you are **A Rose For Me A Rose For You**. don't worry, he's here. And what's going on with these "Poke Games"?

You'll find out soon. And who were those kids in the Pokemon Center?


	4. Let the Games Begin

_This entire Chapter is dedicated to A Rose For Me-A Rose For You. You are the best! I hope everyone enjoys this! Here comes Drew! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. But I they gave it to me, I'd take it! _

Chapter 4

The group gathered at Pearl Dock at 4:30 as planned. They couldn't believe the S.S. Clipper. It was like a huge cruise ship. May couldn't believe that only 36 people were going to be on there. As soon as they got on and found their rooms, everyone split up to explore. Ash went to find the training center, Max to find the library, Brock to find Cori, Misty to find a tan, and May was just exploring.

She found a pool, a training center, a Pokemon Center _on the ship_, ballroom, kitchen; everything you can find on a ship was there (A.N. I've never been on a cruise, so I can't explain real well). The sun was starting to set, and she decided to go up to the high deck to watch it .After climbing all the stairs (elevators are one thing the place _didn't _have), she managed to get to the top.

No one was up there, except a boy around her age. He had his back to her, facing the beautiful sunset. His green hair was blowing lightly in the breeze. May's heart skipped a beat. _Drew._

"Hey, Drew" May said, walking up to him. He started, and then turned to face her. His emerald eyes cut straight through her.

"May!" He said angrily, "Don't do that!"

"What?" May snapped, "Say hi to you? I can't walk up to my coordinating rival and say hi to him?"

"No, it's not that, it's just that you startled me! I was just watching the sunset" He said, indicating the orange ball behind him.

May sighed, and walked up to the railing. She leaned against it and said "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

_I can think of something more beautiful than that,_ Drew thought, looking at May. Then he thought,_ No, I don't like her, the klutz! She can't coordinate to save her life!_

"Drew, are you still with me?" May asked, waving her hand in front of his face. Drew realized he must have been arguing with himself for a while.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What is it?" Drew snapped, waving May's hand out of his face.

"You sort of zoned out for a few minutes. You were staring at me, and it sort of creeped me out" May said, turning away so he wouldn't see her face, which had two little pink patches on it. Drew felt his face grow hot with May's noticing.

They watched the sunset for a few more minutes, when suddenly, a voice came on the intercom and said "Attention, Poke Games participants! Please come down to the dining room for dinner, then we will give you all of the information you will need, along with the people who you will be on a team with. Please come now"

May and Drew glanced at each other, then turned and headed towards the door. Their hands reached for it at the same time, and Drew's hand wound up on top of May's. They looked at each other for a full ten seconds. Both of their faces flushed red. Drew pulled back his hand and took a step back "S-sorry" He stuttered. "Whatever" May said avoiding Drew's eyes.

They walked downstairs silently, both occupied in their own thoughts.

MAY: _Oh my God! What the heck? I mean, it was an accident but STILL! Why did he try to hold my hand?_ May's face felt warm from the thought.

DREW: _Dear Lord, kill me now! I can't believe I just did that! I think I'm going to die!_ He remembered May's face, and sweatdropped._ Why did she blush though?_

They both walked into the beautiful dining room. They saw Misty, Max, Ash, and Brock waving to them. May and Drew headed over and sat on opposite sides of the circular table (which, in retrospect, wasn't a good idea because whenever one of them would look up, they would see the other at the end of the table. Tell me if you got that). Suddenly, Misty nudged May (who she was sitting next to) and asked "What's wrong? You're all red!"

"To make a long story short, I pissed Drew off, he zoned out staring at me, and our hands touched" May said while turning a few shades redder. Misty put her hand up to her mouth and tried to turn her laugh into a cough.

"You're joking! Well, if you're that red, I guess you can't be." She added after seeing the look on May's face.

"Umm…. Excuse us?" A nervous voice said. The girl and boy May had seen at the Pokemon Center were standing there. "Would you mind if we took these seats?" She indicated the two chairs vacant.

"Sure!" Ash said.

The girl smiled and sat down next to May. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself" The girl said "I'm Bethany" "And I'm Jack" The boy said.

"Are you together?" a fruity voice asked. Harley had come over.

"Do we know you?" Jack asked.

"And besides," Bethany added," If we were, would we tell you?"

"No" Jack said answered for him.

"Harley, how did you manage to get here?" Drew asked. Harley gave him a dirty look and snarled "What's _that_ supposed to mean, Dewie?"

"I just thought you had to be sane to be here" Drew smirked. The entire table laughed. Harley turned on his heel and stormed off to a table in the corner.

"Who was _that_ guy?" Bethany asked.

"And _what _was his problem?" Jack added.

"We haven't figured it out yet" May said.

"Excuse me, everyone" A woman's voice said over the microphone. "May I have your attention?"

Everyone turned to look at a woman in her late twenties standing in the middle of the floor. Her short black hair was tucked behind her ears and she wore a lilac sundress. "I am Natalie, and tonight is the start of the Poke Games. We are honored that you are all here. We will be dropping you off on the Perena Islands tomorrow, where you will be for one month-"

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" A boy at a table in the center said "You're dropping us off in the middle of nowhere for a month with no preparation?" A lot of people agreed, and even Drew looked like he thought the boy had a fair point.

"Tracey, do you think we would drop you off in your teams one some deserted island with no food? These islands are full of food, so don't worry about starving."

"That's not what I'm worried about" Tracey muttered.

"Moving on…You will be there for a month, and then come back for the biggest Pokemon Competition ever."

"ALRIGHT!" Ash yelled, punching his fist into the air.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "The winners will get a wonderful prize, which will be a surprise for you all. Now, the teams. There will be six teams, three coordinators and three trainers. The first team is Team Water, and that will have Anthony, Brock, Cori, Max, Tracey, and Zack".

May's face fell that she wasn't on her little brother's team, but as Natalie read the names for Team Grass, Max whispered "Don't worry, May. I'll have Brock and his girlfriend Cori to keep me out of trouble" May smiled as Natalie started to name Team Fire.

"Team Fire will be Ash, Bethany, Drew, Jack, May and Misty." May's mouth dropped open. She was on Drew's team! Bethany slapped hands with Jack, and Ash gave Misty a small smile. May looked over at Drew, who had been looking over at her. He flicked his hair and smirked at her.

"Well, there are all of our teams! Any questions?"

"I have one" Drew called out, "What's the point of this?" Quite a few Pokemon trainers nodded at his comment. Why were they even there in the first place?

Natalie's smile faded, and she replied in a solemn voice "Things are changing, Drew. The winds are beginning to blow a whole new way" Brock and Cori, Misty and Ash, Bethany and Jack, and May and Drew caught each others eyes and shrugged.

"What kind of 'changes' do you mean, Natalie?" May asked nervously.

Natalie forced a smile back on her face and she said, "Don't worry, anyone she said. We have it under control" and, in an undertone May just heard, "I hope" May exchanged anxious glances with Misty. Natalie must have realized they had heard, because she said "Don't worry about a thing. Just concentrate on the Poke Games. Now, everyone, I think it's time we all got to bed. We have a big day tomorrow."

_Ooo, I think that was a good chapter! Did you like my May/Drew moment? I have more where that came from. I also have plans for Bethany and Jack. I based them off of me and one of my good friends. I have plans for those two! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! _

_Next Chapter: Welcome to Perena Islands! May and Drew are already jumping down each other's throats, Misty and Ash move to slow, and something between Bethany and Jack is changing. Sounds Good!_

_Are you excited about my "Change in the winds" line? I thought You might like it. : )_

_Please R&R!_


	5. Welcome To the Perena Islands

_Yippee! Chapter 5! Time for _ _Perena_ _Island_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, which really sucks. _

_Just so you all know, means someone else, somewhere else. _

_This chapter's dedicated to condawg1. _

_Enjoy! _

Chapter 5

"Hey, May" Misty asked May as she crawled into bed. It had been a few hours since Natalie's announcement about the "change in the winds". The dinner had been really awkward. The entire place (all 37 people) had been almost silent. May had hardly eaten anything.

"Yeah?" May asked as she pulled off her bandanna and slid into her bed and propped herself up on her elbows to face Misty.

"What do you think Natalie meant when she said "Change in the winds?" Misty wondered worriedly.

"I'm not sure. Maybe she said it to freak us out?" May suggested.

Misty shook her head. "Can't be. She looked really worried, remember? I think there's more about these Poke Games than anyone really knows about"

Drew was lying on his back in his bed. "Ros roselia? (What is it, Drew?)" A small green pokemon with roses (one red and one blue) for hands asked. It climbed up on the bed and sat on Drew's lap (He had sat up when he heard Roselia).

"Nothing" he said shortly.

"Ros Ros! (Tell me!)" Roselia insisted.

"Just nervous for the games. There was some 'Change in the winds' thing mentioned, and it sort of freaked me out." Drew admitted.

"Ros ros roselia rose roselia! (You know something weird?)" Roselia asked.

"What?" Drew asked.

"Ros rose roselia ros ros roselia roseli ros ros (Sometimes I feel like I'm being watched, but I look around, and no one's there. You think this has anything to do with the 'change of the winds' thing?)"

"I don't know, Roselia", Drew said putting down the rose pokemon, "I don't know"

"Hey, Jack" Bethany asked as she turned in her bed to face the blond boy.

"Hmm?" Jack asked sleepily, but turning to see her laying with her eyes wide open in her bed across the room.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" She asked.

"A little. We don't really know anything about these new teammates of ours, but it's better than us being separated, isn't it?" Jack assured her.

"I suppose…" Bethany said, but still not looking exactly convinced.

Jack looked Bethany in the eyes and said "Then we should make each other a promise."

Bethany sat up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Jack said patiently,sitting up too, "We should promise to look out for each other no matter what."

Bethany smiled. "I promise", and held out her hand.

"I do too" Jack said, taking Bethany's hand and shaking it firmly.

"I've always known I could count on you." Bethany said, lying back onto her pillow.

Jack lay on his back, looking out the window at the full moon shining through the window. He turned to face Bethany, and froze. The moonlight illuminated her face with a silvery glow, and one of her braids was on her face. A little voice in his head said softly, _she's beautiful._

Jack shook his head. What was he thinking? Bethany was his best friend; he couldn't think of a secret he kept from her. Sometimes he felt that she knew him better than he knew himself. If he fell for her, what would happen to their friendship? Jack lay awake for a long time trying to convince himself that he had no feelings for Bethany.

The next day, Natalie summoned them to the dining room again. Looking around, May saw that all of the people there looked like her: that they had been up half the night, thinking about the strange announcement last night.

"All right! Teams, assemble!" Natalie said, despite the fact that she looked exhausted, her voice was energetic.

"See you" Brock and Max said, getting ready to set off for Team Water.

"Take care of Max, Brock!" May called. She wasn't going to see him for a month. After this, they were going to be taken to individual islands.

"You still think Max is a little kid, May?" came Drew's sneering voice.

May rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to see my only brother for a month! I'm worried about him. He's only eleven!"

"Well, we're only fifteen and sixteen, and we're going to a deserted island two. I think Max will be fine with Brock." Drew said impatiently.

"Grumpy?" Bethany asked him.

"I went to bed at midnight and woke up at six a.m. Yes, I'm grumpy!" Drew snarled.

"Well, keep it to yourself and quit taking out on us." Jack snapped, " Bethany was trying to lighten things up and May's worried about her little brother." Everyone looked at Jack in surprise (including Bethany). They had only known Jack for a little while (except Bethany, who had been on the journey with him for almost six years.), but he had seemed pretty laid back. But now there stood an angry Jack who had lashed out and stuck up for his friends.

Jack felt like he had been running. His heart was beating fast, and he felt hot. He didn't know why he had felt so angry when Drew had snapped at Bethany, but he had wanted to pull out his good friend charzard (A.N. don't know if that's right) and toast Drew to a crisp…

"Whatever" Drew muttered, and turned around and put his hands in his pockets.

"Jerk" Misty muttered.

The Fire Team got into their boat, and their short ride to one of the several Perena Islands was silent and tense. They all watched the island grow larger and come closer.

It wasn't a large island, but it was fairly medium. The palm trees swayed on the beach, and the trees got thicker as the forest went on. It was either totally uninhabited or had a very small population based on the closeness of the trees.

The boat pulled up to the shore, and Natalie handed them a machete and three boxes of matches for a fire. "Good luck" Natalie said kindly "You'll be fine." The boat then retreated back to the ship and shrank in the distance.

Ash turned around and looked at their home for the next month. "I suggest we wait for a bit and form a plan"

"Good idea, Ash" Misty smiled at him. Bethany and May exchanged looks.

"O.K., then I say we go exploring the island." Drew said.

"Why do you say that, Drew?" May asked.

"Because," Drew said, flicking his hair, "The more we know about this island, the better off we are. Besides, it looks kind of nice, doesn't it?" The place did look kind of nice, like it was trying to say, _come in, come explore…_

Drew turned to go. He was halfway up the beach when May started after him. Misty sighed, and left, too. Bethany caught Jack's eye, and smiled. For the first time ever, Jack's stomach flip-flopped when she smiled. She ran after Misty, May, and Drew. Jack sighed and ran too, with Ash following close behind.

And so they ran into the Poke Games.

_Oooo, wasn't that chapter cute? I kind of wanted it to have a few Bethany/Jack moments, since I've given Brock/Cori, May/Drew and Misty/Ash. I hope you liked it! _

_Please R&R! _


	6. The First Disaster

_All Right! This is going to be my best chapter yet, I can feel it! You all tell me what you think. _

_This chapter is dedicated to Is-It-Love_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. _

Chapter 6

The group of six had been walking for hours. They finally found a clearing to sleep in for the night. Ash and Jack were going to get firewood, the girls to get water, and Drew was going to take over the job of cooking.

As the girls walked, Bethany said suddenly "May is it true that you like Drew?"

May almost tripped over a rock. "WHAT?!" She asked, "Why do you ask?"

"I can see how you look at him. You're practically thinking 'I want him, but what if he doesn't like me?'" Bethany said simply "And, to take away the mystery, I'm fifty percent sure that he's crazy about you"

"What about the other fifty?" May asked.

"That he hates your guts" Bethany said bluntly. Misty fell over laughing when she saw the expression on May's face. When she could stand up again, she had tears in her eyes. "Priceless" Misty said.

"Oh, shut up" May snapped. "And besides, what about you and Jack?" May asked, using the same trick on Bethany as on Misty.

"What the heck? Jack's been my best friend as long as I can remember. Well…" Bethany trailed off , turning a little pink.

May and Misty exchanged glances. "What?" Misty asked.

"Well… This _doesn't mean I like him_… but once or twice, when Jack and I were sitting next to each other by the fire, sometimes, when I was just become really tired suddenly –like when I've had a big contest- and my head would fall onto his shoulder and… well, you know…" Her voice trailed off again.

Misty and May squealed. "That is so _cute_!" Misty and May gushed.

"That happened to both of us", Misty said.

"Yeah, Ash's old snorlax did sleep gas on us, and someone came by and snapped pictures of us." May said as she pulled out a slightly wrinkled photo of her head on Drew's shoulder and Drew's head resting on her head. Misty's was similar, except of course, it was her and Ash. There was something written on the back of both of the pictures: "You two look cute together".

"Hey, Girls!" They heard Drew call, "You get lost?"

"No!" they shouted back at him.

They picked up their buckets of water and walked back to camp.

"We were worried you'd gotten lost" Ash said.

"With May you probably could have." Drew smirked.

May rolled her eyes and set down the water. Drew figured he had done something stupid, and said "Er… dinner's ready" and he handed a plate of some sort of salad to May and smiled a little. May blushed a and took the plate. Bethany and Misty caught each others eyes and Bethany gave her a look that said, _I rest my case._

After dinner, everyone lay down in their sleeping bags and gazed at the stars.

May was thinking of Drew. Why did he always act like such a jerk? It's like he couldn't give her a break. She also thought about Max. How was he doing? She hoped Brock or Cori were looking after him. She eventually drifted off to sleep.

Drew was thinking about May. Why did he always act like such an egotistic jerk? He couldn't help himself. Sure, he had feelings for her, but not _love…_ Or did he? He fell asleep telling himself that he didn't love May.

Ash was asleep, dreaming of Misty. He had no clue what was going on, all he saw was her face.

Misty was dreaming of Ash's face.

Bethany was thinking of Jack… actually, he was all she had been thinking about all day, since last night, when they had made their promises. She closed her eyes and saw his face, smiling at her, his eyes sparkling that way they do whenever he laughed…

Jack was, once again, telling himself that he had no feelings for Bethany, that they were just the best of friends, despite the fact that when he closed his eyes he saw her from last night, with the moon shining on her pretty face…

The next day, they all woke up early, eager to get ready to see the island. After a quick breakfast of berries, they packed up and left.

They hiked together, having a good time together, until they came to an old bridge hanging over a rapid river.

"Figures" Drew muttered. "I say we go one at a time." May, Ash, Misty, Bethany, and Jack nodded.

Drew ran across the bridge, and it swayed, but stayed contact. He was followed by May, who ran so fast that she tripped over the final plank. She was about to fall flat on her face when Drew caught her in his arms. Drew held her for a second, taking him a second to register that he had May in his arms. May looked into his emerald eyes and blushed. Drew turned a dark red, too, and helped her back onto her feet, avoiding each other's eyes. Misty and Bethany exchanged glances.

After May came Misty, then Ash. Bethany looked at Jack, and Jack said "You go". Bethany nodded, and sprinted across. When she got to the other side, she turned and smiled at him, as if to say, _it's easy! Come on!_

Jack took a deep breath and started sprinting across. But suddenly, when he was in the middle of the bridge, there was a terrible _snap! _And the ropes broke. Jack kept running. Bethany ran forward to grab his hand, but not fast enough. She reached her arm as far as it could go, and Jack reached out his. Just before they could grab each other, the wood beneath Jack's feet fell away. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Jack looked into Bethany's blue eyes, their mouths a tiny "o". Then everything went back to normal speed. Jack fell down into the river. "Jack" Bethany said softly. Jack went under, then bobbed up again. Taking a deep breath that also got a lot of water into his lungs, he yelled " Bethany!" as loud as he could. Bethany suddenly registered what had happened, and screamed, "JACK!!!"

_I think that the ending to this chapter was dramatic, don't you? I thought that they could use a big catastrophe to get them together. Oh, I have plans next chapter..._


	7. Tears Shed

_This chapter is dedicated to all of the people who have commented on my story. You keep me going! _

_This is going to be a fluffy chapter, just want to warn you… _

_Disclaimer: I don't own freaking Pokemon. _

Chapter 7

"JACK" Bethany screamed. Jack bobbed up above for a moment, then went under again. Without thinking, she dived right into the river.

" Bethany!" May and Misty yelled in unison.

Bethany swam as fast as she could down the river. She could see Jack's head just above the water. His eyes were closed, as if he was knocked out. Bethany thought to herself, _I'm coming, Jack… I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it…_

Bethany managed to catch up to Jack, by some miracle. She reached forward and grabbed his hand. She saw a low-hanging branch about twenty yards ahead. She just hoped they could reach it… her backpack was dragging her down, and holding onto Jack was getting harder every second. She began to lose consciousness. The world was slowly turning black.

She thought of all of the great times she and Jack had had together… starting their journey…becoming as close as brother and sister…Bethany cheering for Jack on the sides at his competitions…Jack cheering for Bethany at her coordinating contests… falling asleep on his shoulder…

_No!_ Bethany thought, still struggling to stay conscious, _I won't let this be the end! _She reached out, and grabbed the branch. She pulled herself and Jack up to the muddy bank. She sat for a second, trying to calm down. She looked at Jack, still unconscious. He had a large bruise forming on his forehead, but otherwise seemed fine.

Bethany pulled him over to a fallen tree in the forest, and tested his pulse. It was rather slow. She hoped that she was putting her finger in the wrong place on his wrist. She leaned down and checked his breathing. It was faint. Bethany sat up, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. _He's going to be fine…we'll be alright…_ nevertheless, the tears started to leak from her eyes. She placed her face in her hands, and stated to sob. A tear fell of her cheek and onto Jack's face.

Jack felt something wet hit his face. He felt a pain on his face, and wondered how it had got there. He also felt heavy, and sopping wet. Suddenly, he remembere; falling of the bridge, calling Bethany, hitting his forehead on a rock, then blackness.

He slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, everything was a blur. Then it all went into focus. He saw Bethany next to him, with her face in her hands. The wet drop on his face was immediately explained. He sat up against the log. " Bethany?"

Bethany looked up. Her eyes grew large, and she said in a small voice, "J-Jack?"

Jack grinned. "That's me."

Well, whatever Jack had expected to happen after he said that wasn't what happened. What did happen was, Bethany suddenly flung her arms around Jack's neck and broke down crying onto his shoulder. "Jack! Y-you're alive! I w-was so worried a-a-about you!"

"Umm… B-Bethany," Jack said embarrassedly, "I-I'm all right, don't worry"

Bethany kept crying. Jack felt a dark red blush creep onto his face. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, and patted her gently on the back. "I'm all right, Bethany. You don't have to worry."

After about ten minutes, Bethany finally pulled away. For a moment, Jack wished that she was back in his arms, crying or not. "You sure you're ok?"

Jack smiled at her. "I'm fine. I think we'll have to stay here for the night." The sun had started to set. Bethany gathered firewood, and Jack got out Charzard.

"Char char charzard (My God what happened)?!" Charzard asked when he saw the bruise on Jack's forehead.

"Don't worry, Charzard. Could you set these logs on fire for us?."

"Char (sure)" Charzard said. He spat some fire out of his mouth and set the logs on fire in an instant. The warmth made the two kids feel better quickly.

"Thanks" Bethany said.

Charzard shrugged, and evaporated into Jack's pokeball. Bethany sat down next to Jack in front of the fire.

Suddenly, the trying times of the day got to Bethany. She fell asleep, with her head on Jack's shoulder. Jack felt his face grow warm. He placed an arm around Bethany, and whispered, "Thanks for saving my life, Bethany." Then he did something that he only would have done if he wasn't thinking straight. Yet, he knew exactly what he was doing.

He leaned down and gently kissed her on the cheek. It was quick, but he felt the heat fly to his face, and had a warm, happy feeling in his heart. He smiled, and then laid his head on Bethany's and fell asleep.

Back at the camp sight, no one was talking. May, Drew, Ash, and Misty were still in shock about Bethany and Jack's trip into the river.

_Flashback: _

_"_ _Bethany__!" May and Misty cried, "Don't!" But it was too late. __Bethany__ had dived in. _

_"What's she thinking?!" Drew asked, "She could drown!" _

_They all stood in shock for a minute as they watched __Bethany__ float down the river. _

_End __Flashback. _

They all sat around the fire. May was staring at the fire as if hoping it would tell her if Bethany and Jack were alright. Misty, Ash, and Drew were staring at their feet. Suddenly May stood up. "I'm going for a walk" She said, and walked of into the trees.

Drew caught Misty's eye, and she jerked her head off in May's direction, as if to say, _go follow her! _

"Er… I'm going for a walk too" Drew said, and he stood up too.

He walked off into the trees in the direction May went. He walked for a few minutes, then he realized where May had gone. She had gone back to the river.

Drew found her sitting on the edge, looking down at the water, which seemed to be moving faster than ever in the moonlight.

"You alright, May?" Drew asked. May turned to face him, with her face sparkling with tears. Drew felt his heart melt. He walked over and sat down next to her.

"I can't believe it" May said, "I just can't believe it…"

Drew understood what she meant. He put an arm around her and said softly, "It wasn't your fault"

May started to cry, and Drew pulled May into his arms. She cried into his chest.

Drew felt tears starting to fall from his eyes, too. _No!_ He thought to himself,_ if May sees me cry, she'll think I'm a baby and I won't be able to make her feel better at all! _But, in spite of himself, the tears fell from his eyes and landed on May's brunette hair.

May cried harder. "Why does it feel like it was my fault, then?"

Drew held her tighter. "There's nothing any of us could do, May. I wish there was"

_I think that chapter was SO Kawaii! Did you feel like you were going to cry at the end? I almost did! _

_I might not be posting any chapters for a while, but as soon as I can, you'll find a nice little chapter about the team's reunion. _


	8. A Figure in the Sky

_I'm so sorry, everyone! Really!_

_I've been grounded from my computer, so I had a bit of trouble typing. And I've had major writer's block._

_Disclaimer: I got a J-14 mag and texted a fortune teller and she said I don't have a hope of owning pokemon. Well, I say there's nothing you can't get on Ebay!_

_This chapter is once again dedicated to all of the readers who have left comments. _

_Here we go!_

Chapter 8

The sunlight shining through the trees poked Bethany in the eyes. She sat up sleepily and looked around. Jack was sitting across her, eating an apple and reading 1,001 Tips to Great Pokemon Training, but he looked up when he heard Bethany sit up.

"Good morning, Goldilocks." Jack said with a grin. Bethany rolled her eyes and grinned back.

"Hey, Jack. It's good that you're all right." Bethany said for the second time. She blushed slightly at the memory of throwing her arms around him. What had she been thinking?

Jack shrugged. "I'm fine. Oh, are you hungry?" He asked, holding up another apple. Bethany took it and took a huge bite. "You're like Ash." Jack teased.

It was Bethany's turn to shrug. "Haven't eaten since yesterday." She took another huge bite. Jack chuckled.

"O.K." Jack said as he marked his page and put his book in his backpack. "Let's go."

Bethany nodded and stood up, wiping the apple juice off her face. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her back.

"Oh, and one more thing, Bethany." Jack said as he dug his face into his bag trying to find something. He straightened up and threw a small black box to her. "Happy half-birthday."

Bethany opened it, and blushed lightly again. It was a ring, a deep, dark midnight blue with little silver Eevee's etched in. "Thanks, Jack!" She said happlily.

Jack smiled somewhat shyly. "Put it on." Bethany did, and to her surprise, the dark blue turned into a bright pink. Jack, seeing the surprised expression on her face explained, "It's a mood ring. Thought you might like it." Bethany didn't say anything, but her smile said it all.

The two of them started walking. After about an hour, Jack suddenly said, "What's that?" He pointed up to the sky. Bethany's eyes followed his finger and saw a bright green dot swooping down on them.

"Uh, Jack," Bethany said nervously, "I think it's coming for us"

The green dot was coming towards them, but as it got closer, they found it wasn't a "green dot", it was a flygon.

"Theres a note in it's mouth!" Jack said when flygon landed. They ran to it and Bethany took it gently out of the big green pokemon's mouth. They read it at the same time.

"'Bethany and Jack. This is Drew's flygon. If you climb on he'll take you to where we are. We're getting worried, so please hurry up.'" Then, in four different handwritings, it said "Drew, May,Misty, and Ash" Drew's was tiny and neat, May's was also neat, but it was signed at an angle as if she had signed on the side. Misty's was in cursive, and Ash's was an untidy scrawl that could just barely be read.

"Um, so...let's go!" Bethany said, starting to climb on. Jack went up behind her.

"Alright flygon, let's go!" Jack said. Flygon spread his 10-foot wings wide and took off so suddenly the two teenagers almost fall of. Bethany wrapped her arms around flygon's neck and Jack put his hands on Bethany's shoulders. They flew much higher up in the air than they were sure was neccasary.

... :D...

"Hey, I see something!" May said suddenly. The others followed her gaze and saw Jack and Bethany coming towards them. As they landed, May, Misty, Ash, and Drew ran foreward (well, Drew acting like his normal Too-Cool-For-You self walked), and helped them off. May and Misty almost knocked Bethany flat when they both gave her a tight hug at the same time. Jack was getting patted on the back by Ash and Drew flicked his hair as if he didn't really care (but May knew the whole story).

"I have an idea" Ash said suddenly.

"That's new" Drew muttered. Misty crushed his foot.

"Let's take the day off and hang out at the beach!" Ash cried exitedly. It was beyond obvious that he hadn't a clue what just happened.

""Yeah!" Misty, May, and Bethany said at the same time. Drew said "Whatever" and Jack said "OK"

... :D...

About an hour later, at the beach, the girls were chatting. May had a pale pink bikini, Misty had a blue bikini with white flowers, and Bethany with a dark green tankini (she's traveling with Jack, remember?). All of the girls had let out their pokemon and for the first time, they saw all of Bethany's pokemon. She had an Eevee, (who was sitting between them and talking, too) a ponyta, a scyther, a staryu, and a pigioto (the rest were playing along the beach).

The guys suddenly came walking out of the forest talking, proudly showing their impressive upper-halfs. Misty, May, and Bethanys' mouths dropped open a bit.

"What?" Ash asked when he saw Misty's mouth. She blushed and looked away without a word. "Anyway, we're going out to that rock out there," He pointed to a rock about a hundred feet out, and started walking. Jack and Drew followed.

The girls watched them walk away, their mouths still a bit open. Finally, Eevee broke the silence. "Eve eve _eevee!_ (Those guys have got some _abs!)_"

"Eve's right." May said. Her mouth felt dry. "Where did_ those_ come from?!"

"Well, they do work hard." Misty said uncertainly.

"Well...breaking away from that... how was camp while we were gone?" Bethany asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well... we were all really worried. After a while, May went off into the trees towards the river, and only May and Drew know what happened there. Ash fell asleep fifteen minutes after they left." Bethany rolled her eyes at Ash's "sensitvity"

"What did you and Drew do while you two were gone, May?" Misty asked, raising her eyebrows. May turned a dark red as the memory of Drew wrapping his arms around her came back vividly.

"Did you kiss?" Bethany asked.

"NO!!!!" May yelled a bit louder than she'd meant to.

Bethany and Misty popped their ears. "Umm...sorry?!" Bethany said awkwardly.

"What happened?" Misty pressed. May continued to be interrogated by the two girls, while out on the rock the guys were chatting.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Jack wondered, jerking his head towards shore. Ash shrugged, and Drew gave no sign that he had heard a word of their conversation. Jack gave Ash a look, and Ash explained, "He's off in another world"

Surprisingly, Ash was right. Drew was staring off to the shore, at the brown-haired girl in a pink swimsuit. He mentally slapped himself everytime he thought of last night down by the river, and his face would be very sore if the slaps had been real. He had no idea what had come over him, (like Bethany) it was like...somthing inside him took over...

He knew why May had been so worried. Some time ago he and May themselves ahd taken a trip down a river. May had saved his life that day. Since then, he had been trying to figure out _why_. It can't have been that he was nice; he had been a first-class jerk from the beginning. The only reason he could think of was completely impossible. He sighed sadly. He had always known he wasn't good enough for her, but he could never pop that small bubble of hope he got when he saw May blush when he handed her a rose...

"Drew?" a voice asked. May was sitting next to him, and Misty and Bethany were climbing up. They had swam out totally unnoticed by Drew.

"What now?" Drew said irritatedly.

"You went off into your own world." May explained.

"Yeah, _my_ world, and I didn't hear you knocking" Drew snapped.

"Well, I'm sorry, King Drew. Plese excuse me for entering you're private domain." May fired up at once. She looked around at the others, all of who were trying not to laugh. "What's so funny?!"

"You'e immaturity, May." Drew teased.

"I thought you were off in your own world?" May asked, raising an eyebrow.

Drew coughed a bit. "I can't concentrate with you sitting next to me." He flushed slightly and looked away.

"Well," Misty said, "We were laughing at how cute you two are together!"

May almost fell off the rock; Drew was speechless. When they could speak, they both yelled, "I do NOT like her/him!"

"Then why are your faces as red as May's bandanna?" Bethany pointed out, her eyes sparkling. Jack was staring at her.

Two things," Drew said. "ONE: _good_ coordinators don't fall for _bad _coordinators. TWO: I am not red!"

"Two things for you, Drew." Bethany retaliated, "ONE: May is in fact a pretty good coordinator. TWO: Yes, you are red, and getting redder by the minute!"

"What are you yelling about?" Ash asked. May, Drew, Bethany, Jack, and Misty all fell of the rock anime-style.

"You're joking, right?" Drew checked as he climbed back up. "I mean, how thick are you?"

"Quit it, Drew!" May cried. Misty slapped him in the face.

"I think we get ready to go in for dinner." Ash said. It was once again beyond obvious he hadn't a clue what just happened.

"We've been in the water for only an hour." Jack said, "Is all that you think about food?"

"And Misty?" May added.

Ash and Misty blushed. Drew smirked at May. It's another thing he couldn't help doing.

An odd shadow suddenly swept across the sky. The teenagers looked up and to their shock, they saw a flying pokemon none of them had ever seen before. Before they could get a good look at it, it had flown to the volcano in the middle of the island, and looked like it flew inside. They all exchanged looks of shock.

"What the heck was that?!?!!" Jack cried.

"I don't know, but we should see it!" Ash replied, starting to climb down and swimming back. Misty sighed and jumped in after him.

"Yeah, we have no clue what on earth we just saw, so let's go see what it is and not think about the alternative- that it might kill us all!" Drew said sarcastically.

"He's always been like this," May explained. Drew did not look exactly "reassured". May must have noticed, for she smiled and said, "Are you _scared_?"

"No!" Drew said embarrasedly. He hated being embarrased around May.

"Then come on!" May jumped off and began to swim, followed reluctantly by Drew, leaving Bethany and Jack alone.

"Who's fault is it that we might be getting ourselves killed?" Jack asked. Bethany giggled.

"I blame you" She answered. She jumped off and started swimming.

"That girl's something." Jack said in wonder as he leaped off after her.

They had no idea of the dangers they had just put themselves in.

_I'm so sorry, but I honestly had to put in that evil cliffie._

_Sorry if you didn't like that chapter._

_Next Chapter: Alright, what do you get when you mix a cliff, unstable ground and one of our friends standing on top of it all?_

_Who will it be? You tell me!_

_P.S. I put some SPOILER scenes for future chapter's in my profile, along with the name of the second book I want to hear what you think of my spoilers, so please wait until you read them to comment. Thanks!_


	9. The Second Disaster

_Hello, everyone! Did you read those spoilers on my profile? Do you all hate me? _

_Disclaimer: I asked a Magic 8 ball if I owned pokemon, and it said "You wish". Then I chucked it out the window and it hit my neighbor. :) (Not that I'm complaining, the weasel had it coming to him) _

_This chapter is dedicated to Contestshipper. :)_

Chapter 9

The group stopped at the base of the volcano to sleep for the night. Like last time, the girls went to get water, Jack and Ash to get firewood, and Drew was their "gourmet" chef. (Author sniggers)

"Umm… O.K. lemme get this straight," Bethany said as she scooped water into her bucket, "We see a pokemon we've never heard of fly into a volcano, so we're going to check it out?"

"Uh-huh" Misty confirmed.

"Has Ash always been like this?" Bethany asked.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Misty replied with a grin.

"You are so head over heels." May said with a wink.

"You still haven't told us what happened down by the river, you know." Bethany cut in.

May blushed again, and muttered something about being really worried. Bethany and Misty exchanged glances. Would she _ever_ talk?

"Let's go," May said, standing up. They all walked wordlessly back to camp.

They all sat at dinner without a word. After about ten minutes, Ash broke the silence. "What do you think that thing was?"

"Hmmm…" Drew muttered, "We don't know. Which means what we're doing right now could get us killed."

"If this island was dangerous, why would they send us here, Drew?" May asked. Drew shrugged.

"Oh, HEY, I just got a great idea!" Ash suddenly said, jumping up and down wildly, his food (some kind of veggie casserole) on the ground forgotten.

"What is it, and is it really great enough to make you forget your food, Ash?" Drew smirked.

"Well, I'm sure Misty, May, Brock, and Max won't care…but, after the Poke Games, how about you three –Drew, Jack, and Bethany- travel with us?!"

"That's a great idea!" Misty cried, "And maybe Cori can, too!"

"Yeah!" May agreed.

"So, what do you say?"

Jack and Bethany grinned and nodded. "Sounds great!" May and Misty gave Bethany a hug.

"What about you, Drew?" Ash asked.

Drew glanced at May before answering. Then he shrugged, flicked his hair and said "What the heck? I've got no one else to travel with." He looked at May across the fire and smiled a little. "Maybe some of my coordinating talent will rub off on you, May."

May scowled. "No, maybe some of _my _coordinating talent will rub off on _you_!"

"Don't count on it."

"O.K. lets get to bed!" Jack said hastily. He handed Drew the sleeping bag he was borrowing (since Drew has no sleeping bag, he's borrowing an extra of Jack's), and climbed in.

Once again, none of them spoke. All of them were staring up at the stars, thinking.

May was thinking of the future after the Games. She was traveling with _Drew_!!! Her rival! The rival she had had a little (author smirks. _Little_?) crush on for years! She was a mixture of happy and nervous. She just didn't get the nervous part.

Drew was also thinking of after the Poke Games. He was traveling with _May. _MAY! His rival! (And secret, small crush.) He turned to look at her by the light of the fire. She had fallen asleep. He smiled slightly, and pulled a rose out of his pocket. He put it on top of her bandanna, where she would never miss it. He turned on his back again and fell asleep.

Ash was wondering of what on earth the pokemon they saw was. All he knew about it was that it was big and could fly, which narrowed it down from about 100,000 to about 1,000. Yeah, he'll get it. He fell asleep, snoring.

Misty was also thinking about the odd pokemon they had seen. However, since her observation skills were better that Ash's, she could narrow it down more. The thing that pokemon had looked a lot like a gyrados. But gyrados don't fly…

Jack was thinking about nothing, because he had fallen asleep. (I bet you didn't think I'd write that, did you?)

Bethany was staring up at the constellations. She couldn't believe she was here, at the base of a volcano, getting ready to go after a pokemon, one, they had never heard of, and two, that could kill them. She couldn't help but think that they were all idiots for coming here in the first place. Bethany sighed. Oh well, she was here now, no turning back…

…J…

Everyone all woke up at the same time. They each grabbed an apple off a tree, and ate them as they made their way up. The incline wasn't steep at all. Then, they came to a cliff. There was a beautiful view of the northern half of the island; with all of the green trees and white sand and sapphire ocean (Drew noticed it was the same shade as May's eyes).

"Wow," May said softly. Drew nodded in agreement.

"It's a great view." Jack said.

Misty stepped foreword to the edge. May and Drew got a flashback:

(A.N. I missed this episode, so I have no idea what they actually said. I'm guessing. So I probably have what they say, the name of that one guy, and his pokemon wrong.)

_Flashback: _

_May and Drew walked to the edge to see the river better. _

_"That's a really fast river…" May said a little nervously. _

_Drew rolled his eyes "Quit being a baby, it's not like the ground's going to-" _

_A nasty crack sounded beneath them and before they could leap back, the rock beneath their feet fell away. May and Drew fell down. _

_"May! Drew!" Cid yelled. He pulled out a pokeball and yelled, "Victory __Bell__, use vine whip!" A yellow pokemon that looked a bit like an overgrown squash (it's honestly the only thing I could think of to describe it) came out and shot a green vine over the edge. _

_May grabbed it in one hand. "Drew!" May called. They stretched out their arms and grabbed each other's hands. May's grip on the vine slipped, and they fell into the water. _

_End Flashback. _

Misty was very close to the edge-

"MISTY!" May cried, "Get awa-"

Before May could finish, history repeated itself. The rock beneath Misty's feet crumbled, and Misty fell down, screaming. Ash sprinted foreword, but he was too late. Misty was too far down to be reached, falling to earth.

"ASH!" She shrieked.

"MISTY!!!!!" Ash yelled, "NO!!"

_Aaaahhhh! Misty! No! Not Misty! What will happen next chapter? Will Misty survive? _

_Next Chapter: Surprise for you all! But there's going to be a lot of pokeshipping!_


	10. The Blizzard

_Here we are! Chapter 10! My big 1-0! _

_This chapter is dedicated to… Shygirldee! _

_Disclaimer: _

_Bethany__: amv4eva doesn't own pokemon. Hold up, why do you look like me? _

_Me: I'm you. You're like me in the pokemon world. Jack is my friend Paul. _

_Paul: WHAT??!!?! _

_Me: 0.0 Where did you come from? _

_Paul: Magic. _

_Me: 0.0 _

_Bethany__: O.K. let's get busy! _

_Vivian: That's my line! _

_Bethany, Paul, Me: 0.0 _

_LOL randomness! _

Chapter 10

"MISTY!!!!" Ash yelled, "NO!!" Bethany and May screamed. Jack stood dumbfounded. Drew swore.

Without thinking, Ash leaped over the edge. _Oh, this was a stupid idea,_ Ash thought when he saw how high up they had been. He saw Misty on the ground, clutching her ankle. He yelled, "I'm coming Misty!"

Misty looked up when she heard Ash yell. She forgot all about the pain in her ankle. Ash was falling down the cliff! He pushed himself off the wall, to land at a slide so he wouldn't kill himself. He landed on the grass, then slid and smacked his head on a rock. Misty stood up and ran to his side. There was a gash on the left side of his head, right by his temple. Misty thanked God that it wasn't his actual temple; if it was he'd be a goner.

She checked his pulse, and found that it was pounding vigorously. She smiled to herself. You can never keep Ash down. She pulled a rag out of her bag, along with her water bottle. She dabbed water onto his cut, trying to clean up the wound.

…L…

A few minutes earlier…

"What is WRONG with you people?!?!?" Bethany cried as she saw Ash hit the ground. "You see a pokemon that's at least twenty times bigger than you and decide to follow it, then you jump over a cliff?!"

"Sorry, Ash just has a crush on Misty! I swear that guy would do anything for her!" May said, "Well, then again, we just saw the proof…"

…L…

Misty was glad that the cut wasn't too deep. It was a miracle that he hadn't gotten himself killed. Ash was probably the luckiest boy there was.

To Misty's surprise, Ash suddenly opened his eyes! The dark brown found hazel, and Ash blushed. Seeing Ash blush made Misty blush.

"Uhhh… Hey, Misty." Ash said with an awkward grin.

Misty returned his smile. "You all right?"

"I am now." Ash said, with more color rising in his cheeks.

"Why did you leap off that cliff?" Misty asked. She felt a little angry with Ash's idiocy. But she still couldn't help falling for him.

"You were in trouble." Ash explained simply, putting his hand over his cut. Misty moved his hand and put a bandage over the gash.

"You're lucky you weren't killed." Misty scolded.

Ash grinned again. "I'm a lucky guy. I've gotten myself into a load of bad situations and gotten myself out; I've got great pokemon, great friends, y- never mind the last bit."

Misty raised her eyebrows. Was he about to say that he was lucky to have _her_? Trying to loosen the tension, she said, "I think we should try to get back up there." Ash nodded, and sat up. They both caught their breath.

Their faces were so close to each other's that the tip of their noses touched. Ash's stomach curled up and his heart pace quickened. Misty couldn't breathe and her face burned a million shades of red.

They stared into each other's eyes for about fifteen seconds. Finally, they pulled back at the same time. "Er… sorry…" Ash muttered, pulling his red cap as low as possible. He remembered he had the bill facing backwards, and turned it around. Misty didn't respond. She was still trying to realize that that had just happened.

"So… how are we gonna get up there?" Ash wondered, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. As if for an answer, a green vine came down the cliff.

"Are you OK?" Jack's voice yelled, "Grab onto carnivene's vine whip, we'll pull you up!"

"Thanks!" Misty called up. They both grabbed the vine, and were immediately hoisted up. At the top of the cliff, they let go and climbed up. "Good job, carnivene." Jack said to a vicious-looking green pokemon. Carnivene shrugged and went into the pokeball.

"Ash! Are you O.K.?" May cried, seeing the bandage on his head.

"Peachy." Ash murmured, looking over at Misty. May and Bethany exchanged glances. Something had happened down there; body language didn't lie.

"O.K. so we're all fine, now let's go." Drew said. Everyone looked at him in shock.

"Two of your friends fall down a cliff, one of them cuts open his head, and you don't care?" Bethany said incredously.

"I didn't say I didn't care." Drew said. "I just said that since we're all alright we should go find out what this pokemon is."

"I thought you thought this was a stupid idea that could get us killed?" May said angrily, "Or have you changed your mind?"

Drew flicked his hair. "I still think we could get ourselves killed, but isn't that half the fun?"

Jack gaped. "_Fun?_"

Ash grinned and clapped a hand on Drew's back. "Finally, you're starting to see things my way!" You'd think nothing out of the ordinary was going on from the way he said that.

"O.K. then let's quit fighting and start walking." Misty said. They all started to walk uphill again. Every now and then they saw another great view, but didn't stop to admire anything. When their watches reached 5:15 (p.m.), dark clouds started to build up and the temperature dropped. It continued like this for a few more minutes, but then the wind picked up.

"I think it's about to- _snow?!_" Drew said dumbstruck as something small, white, and cold landed on his cheek.

"It can't snow!" May said irritatedly. She was still annoyed with Drew's insensitivity.

"Seriously, it just did!"

"Drew, it- it did!" May cried, feeling a flake on her hand.

"We're on a tropical island!" Bethany cried. "It's impossible!"

"Impossible or not, it is." Jack said. The snow was coming faster, the wind picking up. It was a blizzard! The snow was coming down so fast and thick that they lost sight of each other in a few minutes.

May was freezing. She suddenly slipped on the snow-covered ground, and landed on someone's feet.

"Oww!" a voice May recognized as Drew's yelled. "Who's that?!"

"Sorry Drew." May said as she stood up. They were standing right next to each other, but through the snow they both seemed to just be blurs.

"Come on, we have to find the others!" Drew said loudly, over the whistling wind. He grabbed May's wrist and started pulling her. May blushed.

They walked for about a half hour, and couldn't see a thing. Finally, May cried, "Drew, we're never going to find anyone in this! We have to find shelter!"

Drew nodded, trying to stop his jaw from chattering off. They walked close to the wall, hoping to find a cave of some sort. To the teenager's gratefulness, they soon found a cave and ran inside. There was nothing in there (except them of course.) They moved to the back, where the wind wasn't there. There was some wood in the back, so they used blaziken to set them on fire. Drew immediately felt better, but May was still freezing. Drew's heart went out to her, and he pulled off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. He smiled at her and went to the front of the cave, close enough to see what was going on outside and have the wind blow his hair back slightly, but far back enough so that he didn't get too cold again. May and Drew gazed out at the storm, hoping the other's were alright.

_O.K. I think that could have been better at the start, but I think that I made it a bit better towards the end. _

_Next chapter: Have you ever wondered why Drew doesn't have a backpack? I know why. BIG contestshippy moments! And some pokeshipping, too. (Mostly contestshiping, though) _


	11. Snow Talk

_Presenting Chapter 11! _

_Huge Contestshippy chapter! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. (I have to write a lot, so I'm not doing a big funny disclaimer.) _

_Dedicated to zero00xx! _

_BTW you had better like this thing 'cause it took me a grand total of three hours to write. _

_Note: I couldn't think of a good chapter name for this, so the chapter name is probably really stupid to you. Tell me if you have a better chapter name, please._

_Enjoy!_

Chapter 11

"Oh no, where's May and Drew?!" Misty cried as they walked into a cave. Ash, Bethany, and Jack all exchanged worried looks.

"They must have gotten separated from us!" Jack said.

"We have to go get them!" Misty said bravely, zipping up her jacket and walking to the front of the cave. She was stopped by a hand on her arm. She turned and saw Ash.

"We can't, Misty." He said firmly. Misty stared at him in disbelief.

"Ash, we have to! Did you get more damage done to you when you hit your head than just get a cut?"

As Misty and Ash argued, Jack muttered to Bethany, "Who do you think is gonna crack first?"

"Ash."

"I say Misty. Wanna bet?"

"You're on."

"Misty, listen! _We can't go out there!_" Ash said.

Misty sighed. "Fine." She took another step to the cave entrance and said, "I'll just go."

Ash grabbed both of her shoulders. "You can't go, Misty! Please!"

"Why, Ash?!" Misty asked angrily.

Ash looked at the floor for a minute. When he looked up again, Misty was shocked to find tears in his eyes. "You're too important to me, Misty. I've had to live without you once. Don't make me do it again."

Misty's face softened. "Fine." And she gave Ash a hug.

Jack grimaced as he handed Bethany a dollar.

(A.N. is that the cutest moment ever or what?)

…L…

May looked at the green haired boy standing by the front of the cave, staring out at the blizzard outside. She kept wondering the same thing: _Is this Drew?_ The rival-friend-crush she had known since she was twelve? The one who had always teased her, yet also made her feel like everything would be O.K. with his presence? What had happened to change him this much? (Wow she really is stumped isn't she?) Yeah, he was still teasing her, but it wasn't as harsh as it used to be, and less often. What happened to him?

Drew stared out at the snow, thinking of the girl sitting at the back of the cave wearing his jacket. It took a lot of willpower to stop him from turning around and staring at her. But, as he reminded himself for what was probably the thirty thousandth time, _he wasn't good enough for her_. He wished for some kind of sign that would give him some small form of hope… he suddenly became aware that he was very cold.

Drew turned and went back into the cave. He checked his watch and saw that it was 9:30.

He sat down in front of the fire next to May shivering.

"You all right, Drew?" May asked.

"F-fine, thanks M-M-May" Drew chattered. May sighed, and to Drew's surprise, put the left side of the jacket around him, so now both of them were wrapped up in the purple fabric. Drew's face felt like the fire in front of them when he felt their arms against each other's. May was truly as red as her bandanna.

"Umm…" Drew said awkwardly. He was so embarrassed he couldn't think straight.

"So… hi." May said, feeling just as awkward and embarrassed as Drew did.

"O.K…. Oh, hey, I have a question." Drew asked.

"What?"

"What got you into coordinating?"

May looked at Drew with surprise, and turned her head to face the fire again. "Well… I always liked the rush I got when I did something right, and when people looked up to you, and just because it always looked so cool. So as soon as I turned twelve, I left with Max. After a while, we met Ash and Brock, and we've been traveling together since then. At my first contest I met you, and well, here we are!" She looked back at Drew. "Not exactly great reasons, huh? O.K. Now you tell me why you went into coordinating."

Drew sighed. "Fine, I will. But to tell you I'm going to have to go back a bit. And you can't tell _anyone_ what I'm going to tell you, O.K.?"

May nodded.

Drew took a deep breath and started the story of his past. "You've heard of Maxwell Corp, haven't you?" May nodded. "My dad's CEO."

"What? You're Drew_ Maxwell_? Rich boy?"

Drew rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am rich. The funny thing is, I don't care how rich I am. I was personally never exactly 'happy'. My Mom and Dad were always working, and my older brother did a ton of classes to teach him to be the next big boss, and my little sister was always at someone's house. I was alone a lot." May looked at him with pity in her eyes. She had never imagined that his life could have been so sad. "I mostly hung out with Andrew, our butler. He gave me my first pokemon. He gave me Roselia, because my Dad kept –or rather, had some maids keep – a huge rose garden in the backyard, and I always went there when I was down. But when I turned twelve, I announced during dinner that I was starting my journey as a coordinator." Drew swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "May, I'm about to tell you something I've never told anyone. When I said that, at first no one paid me any attention. When I did, they thought I was joking. They laughed in my face, saying I could never get far. I stood up right then. I had never been so angry in my life. I said that I was not kidding, and that I was going to leave right then and there. As I went to the door, my Dad called…" Drew stopped abruptly. May put her hand on his arm. Drew turned to face her with tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "My Dad said that… if I left, I would be breaking the family's heart. I told him I was surprised I had ever been in it. Then…" For the first time, May saw tears leak from his eyes. "He said that… I wasn't welcome in our house anymore. I ran out of the room. I wanted to get away from there so much I forgot everything except some money and a few pokeballs I had had in my pocket."

May stared at Drew in shock. She had never, would have never, thought Drew had once gone through that. Drew continued, tears still falling from his eyes.

"So, I went around for a while. I caught flygon, masquerain, butterfree, and absol. I entered a few contests. In my first I didn't make it past the appeals. The second I got the the second round. The third I got the semi finals. The fourth I got to the finals. The fifth…" Drew grinned through the tears. He turned to look at May. "You came flying into my life."

May smiled back. They both looked at the fire again, remembering the day that changed their lives.

May's P.O.V.

_Flashback: _

_"Alright, beautifly, when I throw these Frisbees, I want you to use silver wind to blow them back." _

_"Beautifly! (Let's go!)" _

_"Great! Let's go!" May stepped back and beautifly rose high into the air. May threw three Frisbees, and beautifly flapped her wings to create a strong wind and blew them back. May caught two of them neatly, but the third flew high above her head, towards a green haired boy standing on a ledge ten feet above her head. _

_"Look out!" May cried. The boy reached up and grabbed it. May ran to the cliff and called, "I'm sorry!" _

_To her surprise, the boy spun the Frisbee around his finger and called down, "Please don't tell me you're planning on entering the pokemon contest with a cheesy act like that!" He threw the Frisbee down at her feet. _

_May stared at him wondering what on earth his problem was. _

_Green head jumped down the cliff and walked toward her. "You have no finesse, no moves!" _

_May stepped forward to show this kid a piece of her mind, but to her fury, he held out a hand and stopped her. "Who are you to tell me that?!" _

_The boy smirked. "If you must know, I'm Drew," He said loftily, putting down his hand. "Pokemon Coordinator." He looked her in the face. May mentally slapped herself for thinking that he was really good-looking. _

_"Hey, that's just like you, May!" Ash said behind her. _

_"Please, no comparison!" Drew said in a stuck up way. _(A.N. I don't remember what they say here, so I'm winging it.)

_"Come on, May." Max said, giving Drew a harsh look. "Let's go back to the pokemon center." He grabbed her arm and they left. _

_End Flashback. _

Drew's P.O.V.

_Flashback: _

_It was a really nice day, and he was sure he was going to win it this time. Drew looked out at the ocean, a deep, perfect shade of blue. Below him a girl with dark brown hair and a red bandanna was practicing for the contest, he figured. He smirked. She wasn't going very far, at this point… _

_"Look out!" a voice called. Drew looked up and saw one of the frisbees the girl had been throwing coming for his head. He reached up and caught it. _

_"I'm sorry!" She called. _

_Drew spun the Frisbee around his finger. "Please don't tell me you're planning on entering the pokemon contest with a cheesy act like that!" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. He threw the Frisbee at her feet, and she looked at him as if she had never seen anyone like him before. _

_Drew jumped over the ledge and walked over to her. "You have no finesse, no moves!" the words once again came out of his mouth before he could stop them. What was wrong with him? The girl walked toward him, looking like she'd like to make his face a punching bag. Drew couldn't blame her, but since he didn't want to get a black eye right before the contest, held up his arm to keep her a safe distance away. "Who are you to tell me that?!" She asked furiously. _

_Drew put down his arm, looked at her and said, "If you must know, I'm Drew. Pokemon Coordinator!" In an extremely stuck up way. _

_"That's just like you, May!" a boy a little older than her said. _

_May. So that was her name. _

_"Please, no comparison!" He said, still acting like a snob. He looked her full in the face, and with a jolt in his stomach, thought that she was really cute. _

_"Come on, May." A short boy with glasses said, taking May's arm and shooting him a death glare. "Let's go back to the __Pokemon_ _Center__." The group walked away. Drew watched them go, wondering why he wished he was walking back to the Pokemon Center, too. _

_End flashback. _

Drew looked at the girl sitting next to him, and couldn't believe that they had ended up here.

"I think we should go to bed." May said. Drew looked at his watch. It was now 10:45.

May pulled out her sleeping bag and climbed in.

"Uhh… May?" Drew said. May glanced at him, and remembered that he didn't have a sleeping bag. She rolled her eyes, and unzipped the sleeping bag until it was like a big blanket. Drew released absol, to use his back as a pillow. They rested their heads on his back. May was facing away from Drew, trying to fall asleep. However, she wasn't tired at all. She kept thinking about how terrible it must be to have your own family not believe in you…

May turned onto her other side, and her heart leaped into her throat. Sapphire met emerald; Drew had been staring at her. Drew blushed at being caught, but he held her gaze. Finally, to break the tension, he said, "Can't sleep?"

May shook her head and sat up. She wrapped Drew's jacket over her shoulders again, and Drew walked to the part of the cave that he had been standing in an hour ago.

May was looking at Drew, wondering what he was thinking. As if on cue, Drew suddenly burst out, "What's _wrong_ with this island?!"

"What do you mean?" May asked as she stood up and walked to his side.

"I mean, look at this." Drew said, pointing outside. "We're on a tropical island, but there's a blizzard going on that's worst than some of the one's in La Rousse. And, think about it. Jack and Bethany fall into a river and almost drown. Two days later Misty and Ash go over a cliff and Ash almost got a concussion. That night, we have a huge blizzard and you and I get stranded in a cave. These can't just be accidents, May, they're too close together. And we see a huge pokemon we've never seen before fly into a volcano."

"What exactly are you getting at?" May asked, staring to feel a little scared of what they could have gotten themselves into. Drew sighed.

"What I'm getting at, is that something is seriously wrong with this island and these Poke Games. And the truth is," Drew said, turning to look at May, "It's starting to scare me."

May looked at him in surprise. In one night she had learned some things about Drew she would have never guessed about him. Fear was an emotion she had always thought Drew was immune to. But it turns out he wasn't.

May sighed, and rested her head on his shoulder. (Drew wanted to melt to the floor.) "It's starting to scare me, too."

Drew wrapped his arm around her, and they stared out at the storm, wondering what could happen next.

_OMG I had so much fun writing that! You do NOT want to know how long it took for me to come up with "Drew Maxwell". _

_Next chapter: May and Drew have a… embarrassing awakening. And we find out what that flying-gyrados pokemon was. _

_Please R&R! _


	12. Freidos

_O.K. The beginning of this chapter is very fluffy. I love it! _

_Disclaimer: _

_Drew: amv4eva does not own pokemon. And what is going to happen? _

_Me: -grins mischievously- you'll see. _

_This chapter is dedicated to Rolyn-Ro-Roserade. _

_Enjoy! _

Chapter 12

May woke up from a deep sleep. She knew it was deep because she didn't want to wake up. She was so tired, and warm… she hadn't yet realized that the thing her head was resting on wasn't absol.

Drew woke up reluctantly, too. His eyes were still half glued together from sleep. He dimly became aware of something warm on his shoulder and his arms were around something.

May and Drew opened their eyes at the same time. They both looked into each other's eyes. Their faces were only about five inches apart.

Drew's thoughts: _Wow. She must be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen…_ Drew smiled softly at her.

May's thoughts:_ He's really handsome. I've never felt like this before…_ She caught sight of Drew's smile, and smiled back. They were in that position, staring into each other's eyes and smiling for thirty seconds. The realization of what position they were in suddenly hit home.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!" They screamed, and they flew apart and ran to opposite sides of the cave, their hearts pounding, heads reeling.

_OH MY GOD WHAT THE HECK!_ May screamed in her head. She was backed against the wall, hugging herself. Her heart was going a thousand miles per hour and her face was burning up.

_No, no, no, no, no, No, NO! _Drew was yelling at himself in his head, mentally punching himself. He hadn't meant for it to happen…

_Flashback _

_Drew stared out at the storm, thinking hard about the Poke Games. He suddenly learned that May was leaning more heavily on him. He looked down and saw that she had fallen asleep on her feet. He laughed softly. Drew bent down and picked May up bridal style. He liked the way she folded into his arms, with her head resting on his shoulder. _

_He set her down gently tucking her in. He lay down too, trying to keep his mind away from May. He couldn't. He turned to face her, and couldn't tear his eyes away from her face. Her silky brunette hair was hanging over her shoulder, her mouth in a small smile. _

_Before Drew could stop himself, he scooted over and wrapped his arms around her the way he did that night by the river. May moved a little closer, making Drew totally melt on the inside. He rested his head on hers and fell asleep, a small smile on his lips. _

_End Flashback. _

Drew wanted to die right then and there. He was sure he had just ruined whatever tiny chance he had had with her. To his surprise, he realized that, as May turned away so as to not look at him, he could have sworn there was a small smile on her lips.

May couldn't believe herself. Why was she smiling?! That was totally messed up! That was the weirdest moment, though, when she woke up. She had felt something in her she had never felt before. She didn't know what it was.

Drew stood up shakily. He hadn't known he was trembling until then. "Um…er…uh… sorry?" he said weakly.

May, still with her back to him, shrugged. She was feeling a lot of emotions at the moment, but anger wasn't one of them. She wordlessly packed up her things and started to leave. At the entrance of the cave, she turned back and said, "Are you coming?"

Drew, who had been looking at her hoping to be able to read her thoughts, gave a silent sigh if relief. At least she didn't hate him.

They stared outside in shock. After a huge blizzard, you would think that the whole island would have been covered in snow. Wrong. The entire place looked like nothing had happened.

May and Drew exchanged looks of shock. "O.K. Now I know there's something wrong with this island." Drew said. May nodded in agreement.

"Let's go find the others." May said.

They both started walking. After fifteen minutes, they saw a familiar figure up ahead. " Bethany!" May cried, running forward to her.

"May? MAY!" Bethany yelled joyously, running to her friend and giving her a hug. Ash, Misty, and Jack came running around a corner.

"You guys are all right!" Misty cried, giving May a hug right after Bethany. May felt her spine crack.

"What happened?" Ash asked Drew as May tried to get her breath back.

"We found a cave." Drew explained bluntly.

"Uh, alright." Jack said. He guessed that Drew didn't want to talk about what had happened.

"Let's go." May said, starting to walk uphill. Everyone followed.

They walked wordlessly for an hour before they came to the top. They looked around and saw the entire island. It was a really nice view, better than the one on the cliff Misty had fallen over.

They turned to look inside the volcano. It looked like the usual thing; the lava was about fifteen feet below the top. May wondered if that was bad.

"I don't think anything's-" Bethany started, but gasped. The lava suddenly started bubbling. A head rose out, followed by a snakelike body. It was a ruby red, and had ivory spikes on its back and surrounding its face. It rose up until it was about ten feet above their heads. In a deep, booming voice, it growled, "Who dares interrupt my slumber?"

May gave a terrified squeak and instinct moved closer to Drew's side. Drew gaped. Bethany and Misty covered their mouths with their hands. Jack stood frozen.

Ash, being very brave, stepped forward and said, "Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, May Maple, Drew something, (Drew rolled his eyes), Jack Smith, and Bethany Anderson, competitors in the Poke Games."

The pokemon's face relaxed. "Oh. I see. You are mere children. I was worried you were the Astors."

"The _what_?!" Drew asked, "Never heard of it."

The pokemon's face clouded over. "You don't know about the Astors? Do you even know why you're here?"

"Yeah, well I asked that, and Natalie just said some 'change in the winds' thing." Drew explained.

"Natalie is a fool, then" The pokemon said. "Very well, I will explain what is going on, or, as much as I can without getting in trouble with Natalie."

"Who are you?" Bethany spoke up.

"I? I am a pokemon called freidos. (Pronounced like Fritos)" Freidos said. "And I will explain why you are here."

"The Astors are a group of people who are power hungry. They want to find out how to steal power from other worlds. They know one way to do it, and that's got something to do with the wind. We aren't sure exactly what it is."

"That's great, but where do we come in?" Drew asked.

"I'm getting there, Drew. To counter the Astors, there are the Titans. (I couldn't come up with anything better.) There are Titans in every world to counter the Astors in their worlds. Do you understand?" They all nodded, so Freidos continued. "The Astor's leader and most powerful Astor's exist in the pokemon world, so we need more people. That's where the Poke Games come in."

"So you mean that they want to see if we're Titan's material?" May said incredously. Freidos nodded.

"We are using the Poke Games to test you, to see if you're what we need. I've been to all of the islands, and all of you are what we're looking for. But on Water Island there was an eleven year old boy! I couldn't believe it!"

"Max!" May cried. "Did you see him? Is he alright? Is anyone-"

"He's doing excellently, May. You have no need to worry."

"Hold up for a minute." Drew said suddenly, "Are you saying that the river, the cliff and the storm were all tests?"

"No, those were not tests. The Astors have been watching you. They have seen that your team is the strongest, and they are trying to take you out. To their fury, they have been unsuccessful."

"So they're going to keep trying to kill us until they do?" Jack said.

"Yes. But you all have the one power that they do not, the power that can never truly be taken from you. A power that can save the world."

"What's that?" Misty asked.

"Love." Friedos said simply.

"_Love_?" Drew said surprised. "Uh, no we don't."

"Uh, yes you do. You love your friends, your family, and your pokemon. You can save the world with that. That's all the information I can give you." Friedos concluded abruptly.

"Wait, no!" Ash cried. "How do we defeat them? Who are they? Where do they stay? What are they-"

"I'm sorry Ash. I cannot answer these questions." Freidos said sadly, sinking back into the lava. They all watched his head disappear below the surface. They watched the spot, hoping that he would come back up reconsidered, and would answer their questions and satisfy their thirst for knowledge. But he didn't.

_Evil cliffie! I had to do that!_

_Next Chapter: Sparks fly! Arguments break out! And Drew as good as says he likes May! (Oh crap, MORE SPOILERS!)_

_Please R&R! _


	13. I Won't Say I'm In Love

_Chapter 12! YAY! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. If I DID, then Misty, May, and Max would have never left the series, and Drew would have been in the Pokemon Ranger, Jirachi Wishmaker, and Lucario movies. So since those girls are gone and the pokemon movies are Drew-free, I don't own it. In short: my life sucks. XD _

_Dedicated to: xxfadedaway. _

_I need you to know: I'm sorry, but I lied last chapter. There is no fighting in this. It is yet again a total Contestshippy paradise. Also, when you get to it, I NEED you to play **I Won't Say (I'm in Love)** from Hercules when you get to where it is used. Once again, sorry, and please don't kill me. You can flame me, though, that's fair. _

_Enjoy! _

Chapter 12

The group had not spoken at all after Freidos sunk back into the lava. They were down the volcano, and after a quick discussion, decided to head to the beach so as to practice. If they were on top of an evil organization's 'KILL' list, they figured it was best to train. They also thought they should get ready for the competition after they got off the island.

They had made it down to the ocean, and were close enough to have the waves sing them off to sleep. Well, except May.

She got out of her sleeping bag, put on her shoes and bandanna, and walked toward the ocean. She climbed up and sat down on a boulder. (There's a lot of rocks there, ok people?) The salty-sweet wind blew her hair around, helping to relax her a bit. She had been feeling a little scared since Friedos said that the Astors were going to keep trying to kill them until they did…

"Yo!" a voice called. May looked down and saw Drew on the ground looking up at her. "What's up?"

May looked away. "I'm fine." She answered as Drew climbed up and sat next to her.

"May, you're terrible at lying, you know. I can tell that something's up. So, what's wrong?" Drew asked, almost kindly.

May blushed slightly for some reason. She knew Drew would keep her feelings a secret. "Well, I've just been thinking… about what Freidos said about the Astor's trying to kill us. I sort of wish we still had no clue why we were here." Drew nodded in agreement.

"It's not everyday that a big red pokemon comes and tells you that a couple of mad men want to kill you and the people you care about. I've been feeling the same way." Drew admitted.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you admitted that you were scared, Drew." May said teasingly.

"I'm full of surprises, May." Drew replied. "You should know that by now." May punched him lightly on the arm.

"Well…" May started, "The thing that really scares me…" Drew gave her his attention. "Is that the Astors are watching and following us, trying to plot ways to kill us. It scares me that I might not be here tomorrow night." May said, her voice shaking slightly.

Drew looked at her in surprise. She had really given this a lot of thought. He hated seeing her looking so scared. He looked down, and saw her hand halfway between them. A sudden idea struck Drew. Taking a deep but silent breath, he inched his hand over to hers. When their fingers touched, he heard May give a small gasp. His hand was on top of hers the way it had been on the boat at the start of the Poke Games a week ago.

May felt her face flame up, and was grateful that the night hid the worst of the blush on her face. She was surprised that Drew was trying to hold her hand, but the thing she couldn't believe was that she wanted to hold his. She slowly turned it and clutched his fingers gently. The two of them blushed madly.

"May," Drew said softly. May looked at him and saw that he was blushing as bad as she was, if not worse, "We're all in this together. No one is on their own. If one of us goes down, we're all going down with them."

"Translation?" May asked cluelessly. Drew rolled his eyes.

"Basically I just said I'll look out for you if you look out for me."

May blushed a darker red than she already was. "Oh. O.K." She gave him such a sweet smile that Drew suddenly forgot himself.

"But if we're not here tomorrow…" He whispered.

He started to lean in closer to her face. May blushed even more once she realized what he was doing, and to her own surprise, leaned in to meet him. They slowly brought their faces closer and closer. They felt the edges of their noses rub against each other, and closed their eyes. They were about to kiss… have the kiss they had both wanted to have since they met in Slateport City…

Their lips touched for a second. Suddenly waking up out of their dream world, they jerked apart, blushing furiously.

"Uh-I-er-did we just do what I think we did?" Drew asked, feeling like he could melt from embarrassment.

"Kiss? Yes, we did." May said, her heart mingling with the emotions of disappointment and the strange feeling she had had that morning. She felt her stomach churning and curling up. She was still holding his hand.

Drew let go and said, "Um… wow! Look at the time! I'm sorry, but I really should get off to bed. Goodnight!" He slid off the rock and walked to camp.

May's POV: (note: she's still looking out at the ocean)

_Oh…My…God. Drew and I kissed. I can't believe it. Why did we? Why did we hold hands? Could he like me?_ (O.K. I love May, but here she seems to be a mega idiot.)_ I mean his lips on mine…_ May shivered slightly and put a finger to her mouth, _I-I'm not sure exactly why, but I liked it for some reason…_ May looked out at the ocean, trying to figure out her true feeling for Drew.

Drew's POV: (note: back at campsite, looking at the stars)

_I can't believe this. I kissed her. She kissed me. WE KISSED! I know it was a one-time thing, but I wish it could have lasted longer. He mouth on mine, I wish that could happen just one more time…_

…J…

"Good morning, sleepy head." Bethany said as May got up from her sleeping bag. Misty and Bethany were there, but the guys were no where to be seen.

"Where are the others?" May asked as she accepted the banana Misty handed her.

"Off training." Misty answered, "Why are you interested?" She asked suspiciously.

May turned a dark crimson and looked away. "Wondering." She muttered.

"Where were you last night?" Bethany suddenly said. "I heard Drew coming back, and he looked really flustered, but I didn't see_ you_."

"What did you and Drew do, May?" Misty interrogated. May knew there was no way of getting out of this, so she decided to come clean.

"Er… well…we…um…we kind of….kissed." She said in a small voice. Bethany and Misty stared at her in shock, then they squealed and cried, "You did?! It's about time! How was it?"

"Short." May answered. "We shouldn't have. We don't really like each other."

Misty and Bethany stared at her in shock. "_Don't really like each other??!!!?!_" Bethany said in shock, "Who do you think you're kidding? He's everything to you!"

"No, he's not." May snapped. "I remember the last time I thought someone was my 'everything', and they broke my heart and left me with nothing."

"What?" Misty said surprised. "You used to really like someone else? Who?"

"Someone from Petalberg named Brandon. I don't like talking about it. So, to skip to the ending, he cheated on me, and left me without goodbye. I promised myself I would never fall for another guy, to keep my heart from being broken."

"I'm sorry, May." Bethany said. "But you can't say that you don't like Drew."

May sighed and stood up. Walking to her pack, she put it on, then pulled out the red rose Drew had given her a few days ago. Some of the petals had fallen off, but it was as beautiful and spellbinding as ever.

**(Play the song)**

May began to sing,

_If there's a prize for rotten judgment, _

_I guess I've already won that. _

_No man is worth the aggravation, _

She threw the rose over her shoulder, and Misty caught it before it hit the ground. The two girls grinned at each other, getting ready to join.

_That's ancient history. _

_Been there, done that! _

Misty and Bethany began to join.

_Who d'ya think you're kidding? _

_He's the earth and heaven to you. _

_Try to keep it hidden, _

_Honey we can see right through you. _

_Girl you can't conceal it! _

_We know how you feel _

_And who you're thinking of! _

May countered:

_No chance, no way! _

_I won't say it, no, no!" _

_You swoon, you sigh _

_Why deny it? Uh-Oh _

Bethany and Misty retaliated.

_It's too cliché. _

_I won't say I'm in love. _

May gave herself a hug and sang,

_I thought my heart had learned its lesson. _

_It feels so good when you start out. _

_My head is screaming, _

_'GET A GRIP, GIRL! _

_Unless you're dying to cry you're heart out!' _

(Misty&Bethany)

_You keep on denying _

_Who you are and how you're feeing. _

_Baby, we're not buying, _

_hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling. _

_Face it like a grown-up! _

_When ya gonna own up that you _

_Got-got-got it bad? _

_No chance, no way, _

_I won't say it, no-no! _

May sang back, getting a small smile on her face.

_Give up, give in! _

(Misty)

_Check the grin, you're in love! _

The smile fell off May's face,

_This scene won't play! _

_I WON'T say I'm in love! _

_You're doing flips! _

_Read our lips, _

_You're in love! _

Misty and Bethany chimed.

_You're way off base, _

_I won't say it! _

_GET OFF MY CASE, _

_I won't say it! _

Bethany and Misty backed down.

_Girl don't be proud, _

_It's O.K. you're in love _

Bethany handed May the rose, and May ran off to the beach. She stood leaning against a tree, looking at the green headed boy practicing with his masqerain. She smiled and fingered the red rose affectionately.

Softly, under her breath, she sang,

_Ooo, at least out loud, _

_I won't say I'm in love… _

May pocketed the rose and ran up to meet him.

_O.K. sorry I didn't put in all of the fighting. I PROMISE that will happen next chapter. I just absolutely love that song and I needed a way to get it in here, so…here it is! _

_Next chapter: __Sparks__ fly! Fights! No Shipping! This is the only chapter that won't, I'm serious. _

_Please R&R! _


	14. Sparks and Broken Hearts

_Chapter 14! WOO HOO! _

_Note: When you get to it, I need you to play **Be Good To Me** By Ashley Tisdale. Thanx! _

_Disclaimer: _

_Ash: amv4eva doesn't own pokemon. _

_Misty: or the song "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" _

_Drew: Who are you trying to get to say they're in love? _

_Misty: It's GIRL STUFF, Drew! –bops Drew on the head- _

_Me: Ahhh… anime violence. _

_Dedicated to: Bigdreamergirl! _

_Also: O.K. Some Shippyness in this chapter. I can't do one without it! What should my Jack/Bethany shippy be called? _

_Enjoy! _

Chapter 14

"Hey, Drew." May said as she walked up to him, trying not to remember last night.

"Hey May." Drew replied distantly. He blushed as he remembered their kiss. "Umm… you wanna train?" He asked trying to break the awkward silence.

May smiled. "Sure! Come on out, Beautifly!" She threw her pokeball up in the air and a butterfly pokemon flew out.

"O.K. We should try combinations." Drew said. May nodded, and Drew called, "O.K., masquerain, use silver wind!" Masquerain flapped his wings and a powerful gust swept around them, picking up sand and flinging it in their faces. However, the sand caught by silver wind was picked up and spun in a tornado.

"Cool!" May coughed.

Drew said nothing. He held up his pokeball and said, "Return, masquerain."

May looked at him in disbelief. "Drew, that was really cool! Why did you return masquerain?"

Drew shot her a look. She didn't get it, the clueless girl. "Have you seen those people at the Johto Grand Festival? Their pokemon do much better than what masquerain just did."

May rolled her eyes. "Those people are at the _Grand Festival._ We don't even have any ribbons. We have a while to go."

"You do. But not me. I practice, and you just get to the finals because you have a really cute smile."

May hadn't exactly registered what he said, so she didn't know that he said 'really cute smile'. She felt blood rushing to her head. "Yeah, whatever. That still doesn't mean that you have to be a jerk to your pokemon."

Drew clenched his fists. "Masquerain didn't try his best-"

"How do you know that he didn't try his best?" May snapped.

"He wasn't performing up to his best standard. He was slacking, and why would I say 'good job' to that?" Drew hissed.

"He hasn't been out of his pokeball since we came here, and its been over a week. Cut him some slack!" May shouted at the egotistical jerk.

Drew looked into her eyes and yelled. "I'm not cutting some slack to a slacker! I'M NOT A SORRY WIMP LIKE YOU!"

May felt something inside her snap. She started to tremble, and yelled, "FINE!" She turned and ran away from the boy she had thought she loved an hour ago. Beautifly swatted Drew on the head and flew after its trainer. (Go beautifly!)

Drew watched her run, already feeling the stabs of regret he knew would only get worse.

…L…

"O.K. Ash lets battle!" Misty said happily. She didn't know what had happened between May and Drew yet.

Ash grinned. "Alright, Misty! Corfish, I choose you!" Ash threw his pokeball into the air and a pokemon that looked like a cross between a crab and a lobster came out.

"Corfish cor! (I'm free!)" Corfish said happily.

"Ash, when did you get a Corfish?!" Misty called from twenty feet away. "Never mind. Come on out, Corsula!" A pink coral looking creature came out and called, "Corsula! (space!)"

"This battle between Ash's Corfish and Misty's Corsula will begin now!" Jack called, acting as referee. Bethany was standing next to him.

"Corfish, use water gun!" Ash yelled. Powerful jets of water spurted out of Corfish's claws at Corsula.

"Dodge, Corsula!" Misty called. Corsula managed to get out of the way just in time. "Use tackle!" Misty yelled. Corsula sprinted forward and rammed into Corfish before Ash could do anything. It was a direct hit, and Corfish was very beat up.

"That's not fair!" Ash yelled, "Your Corsula has a really fast tackle!"

"Baby! Corsula's three times smaller that your Corfish, why are you complaining!?"

"It's not fair!" Ash yelled.

"What, so you wanted me to lie down and _let_ you win?" Misty asked incredously.

"Well…" Ash said, rubbing the back of his head.

Misty looked utterly disgusted. "Corsula, return." She walked up to Ash and said, "You wanted me to lie down and let you win, so here you are." She slapped him in the face and ran off into the forest.

"I deserved that." Ash muttered.

Jack and Bethany exchanged glances. "I'll go after Misty. You stay with Ash, O.K.?" Bethany whispered into Jack's ear. Jack blushed slightly with having Bethany so close and nodded. Bethany gave him a small smile and walked off.

…L…

"May?"

"Misty?"

"What are you doing here?" The two asked each other in unison. They had walked to the river and met each other on accident.

May sighed sadly. "Drew and I got into an… argument."

"Misty! Misty! Mist- May?" Bethany said surprised as she came through the trees.

"What are you doing here?" Misty asked.

"I came to try and calm you down. Now I guess I have to help you too, May." Bethany smiled, but May just shrugged.

"Just think of me as a kind of… mediator." Bethany said with a wink. Bethany's cheery tone made poor May feel worse, and she started to cry.

"Crap" Bethany muttered. She and Misty sat next to her and patted her on the back.

"You wanna tell us what happened?" Misty asked gently.

May gulped and started her story. "… So he said 'I'm not a sorry wimp like you', and that's when I ran here."

Misty and Bethany looked almost livid. "He said that to your face?!" Bethany said in shock. May nodded, and Misty clutched her fists. "That ass!" (pardon the language.)

"Forget it." May said. "I guess it's my own fault-"

"Don't talk like that." Bethany said sharply. "I'll go talk to him."

"_Don't,_ Bethany." May said. "It's not worth it."

Bethany shrugged and sat down, letting Misty tell her story for May.

"…So, that's what happened." Misty concluded. "Jerk wasn't who I thought he was at all." She sighed and tears began to roll down her face. "He's not worth it anyway." Misty continued, scrunching up her face in an attempt to stop her crying.

Bethany sighed. She supposed not all guys were like Jack…

…L…

"I'm such an idiot." Ash groaned. "I can't believe that I actually thought Misty would roll over and let me have it easy. I mean, geeze, she always kicked my but if I did something stupid, I'm surprised she didn't do more than just smack me in the face. I totally deserved it."

"I hate to be rude, but you were kind of a jerk. Girls don't like that." Jack advised.

"How would you know?" Ash asked angrily.

"'Cause I've traveled with a girl for almost six years, genius. I've learned a couple important things. ONE: Don't mess with girls on PMS. TWO: Don't groan while they're shopping or the thing will be two times as long, and THREE: Don't expect them to be all sweet when they're battling. I have the bruise marks to prove this."

"How do you travel so easily with a girl?" Ash wondered.

"I don't really look at her as a girl." Jack shrugged. "I just look at her as… well, Bethany."

"Teach me your ways!" Ash begged.

"Ah, no. I'm gonna go practice." Jack walked away, calling out his onix as he did.

…L…

"Stupid… stupid… stupid… stupid…" Drew kept saying as he pounded his head onto his palms. His insides were shredded up. He had yelled at May, _again_. The last time he did, he had sworn to himself that he would never do so again. Seeing the hurt look on her face hurt more than it did when he had run away from home. (I really want to do a flashback, but I didn't see the episode, so I won't put it in)

He didn't want to go back to camp; he was too ashamed of himself. Drew supposed it was good he kissed her last night; because he was sure as heck it was never going to happen again.

He stood up and walked to the river. He stopped when he heard voices.

"…May, you said yourself, he's not worth crying over…" Drew's stomach lurched and he felt sick. He had made her _cry_.

"Then why can't I stop?" May's voice asked, sounding choked up. Drew had the powerful impulse to run out of the trees and pull her into his arms, but he knew that he shouldn't unveil his cover. He suddenly heard a soft voice singing:

**(play the song up until she stops singing) **

_Everyday is getting worse _

_You do the same things and it hurts _

_I don't know if I should cry _

_All I know is that I'm trying _

_I wanna believe in you _

_I wanna believe in you _

_But you make it so hard to do _

Drew was shocked. The song explained what he did and how big of a jerk he was, but who was singing? He peeked around the tree and saw May singing, looking at her hands folded in her lap. Her voice was beautiful...

_What's the point of making plans _

_You break all the ones we have _

_I don't know where we went wrong _

_'Cause we used to be so strong _

_I wanna believe in you _

_I wanna believe in you _

_So why can't you be, _

_Be good to me _

_Don't ask for much _

_All I want is love _

"Love?" Drew muttered surprised. "I can't have heard right."

_Someone to see _

_That's all I need _

_Somebody to be _

_Somebody to be _

_Good to me _

_Good to me _

_Can you be good to me _

_Good to me _

_Please! _

May ended the song and wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled.

"That was so pretty!" Misty exclaimed.

Drew stood in shock. May was singing about him! He had really hurt her that much. He knew he would have to apologize, _now._ But how?

"I wish Drew heard that." May said sadly, shaking her head.

"You're in luck." Drew called, stepping out of the trees, his hands in his pockets.

"Drew!" May gasped.

_DUN DUN DUN! Oh my! What will happen now? Sorry Bethany and Jack didn't argue, since the charectars are based off of me and my friend they act like us, and when he and I argue (which is like, never) we're fine like an hour later, so there's no point._

_Next chapter: The FOURTH disaster! Who will almost die? (or just plain DIE) _

_STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT! _

_Please R&R! _


	15. The Storm

_Chapter 15! YIPEE! _

_Disclaimer: _

_May: amv4eva doesn't own pokemon. _

_Drew: or "Be Good to Me" _

_May: -slaps Drew in face- That's for being… you! _

_Me: impressive comeback, May _

_May: You want to have a slap like Drew? _

_Me: May, I hold the pen here. With a few words, I can make life VERY difficult for you. _

_Drew: Oh, BURN! _

_Random! _

_Dedicated to: dedicated to everyone again. _

_Drew: That starts to lose the novelty after a while. _

_Me: I can make life difficult for you, too, bud. _

Chapter 15

"Drew!" May gasped.

"Nice song, May." Drew complimented, "Is it O.K. if I talk to you for a minute?"

May shrugged. "Whatever." She didn't really care anymore.

"Thanks" Drew muttered as he walked over. May gave Misty and Bethany a look that told them she'd like to talk to Drew alone. They nodded, and Bethany gave Drew an 'eyes on you' sign.

As soon as Drew sat down next to May, he started, "May, I'm really, really sorry I yelled at you. There isn't even an excuse for it; I was being an unbelievable jerk."

"Got that right." May muttered, still refusing to look at him. However, a small smile was creeping across her face.

"And, I was wondering if you could forgive me and we could pretend this never happened?" Drew suggested hopefully.

"Well," May said, "You really hurt my feelings…"

Drew sighed. "Do you honestly think I don't regret all that stupid stuff I said with a hundred and ten percent of me?"

May looked at him to see if he was being serious or was toying with her. His eyes showed no sign of kidding; on the contrary, they were a little bloodshot, as if a few tears had escaped his eyes. He really meant it.

"Oh, Drew," May said with a small smile, and she gave him a hug. Drew blushed feeling May's arms around his neck, but he returned the hug.

"Ummm… O.K." Drew said awkwardly, pulling away. He noticed May was blushing hard. He grinned; he knew that his yelling had been forgiven and forgotten.

…J…

Misty and Bethany walked out of the forest talking about Drew.

"He's a jerk, but he's definitely got a soft spot for May." Bethany said.

"He always shows off in front of her." Misty added.

"_And_ they kissed." Bethany said with a grin. "Now, let's go visit Ash."

Misty sweatdropped. "I can't. I bet he'll still be mad at me and-"

"MISTY!" Ash yelled as he ran over with Jack following a couple feet behind. "I'M SORRY!" He stopped in front of Misty panting.

"I'm…really…sorry I was…such…a huge jerk…I don't know why I thought you would let me win. I guess I was being my idiot self." Ash said, getting his breath back.

Misty nodded. "Yes, you were being an idiot. But now you're being sweet." Misty smiled and gave Ash a quick hug.

"We're good!" Bethany said to Jack.

"I got Ash to apologize!" Jack said.

"Ash already felt bad, dope." Bethany grinned. Jack pretended to be hurt.

"Just kidding." Bethany assured him. Jack smiled.

…J…

The group of six, in light of celebrating their make-ups, took off the rest of the day and decided to go swimming. They were all out on the rock again, talking about the Poke Games.

"All we know about these 'Astors' people is that the most powerful ones exist in our world and they all want us dead." Ash summed up.

"We're screwed!" Bethany cried.

"I have to agree." Drew said from his spot next to May. "We're on a deserted island with no means of contact, and a group of mad men will stop at nothing to push us out of the way."

May shivered slightly. "You really know how to terrify me, Drew." Drew patted her hand gently and blushed. Fortunately, no one noticed, as they were all deep in thought.

"I wish we knew what they were going to try next." Jack said slightly irritably.

That's what they want." Misty said. "They want to keep us scared, keep us in the dark when they attack. We're never safe."

"It's scary, but we have to stay on our guard," Drew said, more to May than the others.

As if on cue, a drop suddenly fell on Drew's nose. Looking up, his heart stopped. There were dark, black clouds in the sky. Another drop fell into Ash's palm. The wind began to pick up and the waves grew choppy.

"I think the Astors are back." May said softly.

As if in answer, a huge wave suddenly blew over and knocked them off the rock. They all fell into the icy water. The current was so powerful that all they could do was paddle uselessly.

About ten minutes later, Bethany, Jack, Misty, Ash, and Drew climbed onto the shore gasping for air. Looking around, Drew noticed someone was missing; his heart practically stopped: _May wasn't with them._

"Where's May?!" Drew yelled panicky.

Their eyes all grew wide. They looked out at the ocean. They suddenly saw a small brown dot vanish beneath the surface. Their worst fears were confirmed, and Drew felt tears come to his eyes. Not tears of sadness, but tears of rage. These Astors weren't taking May…

"I'm going after her!" Drew yelled over the roaring wind. He started sprinting to the water.

"Drew, you could drown!" Ash shouted after him.

"I DON'T CARE!" Drew roared over his shoulder as he dived in.

…J…

May was being tossed around by the waves like a ragdoll. Every time she got to the surface, it was for a moment and she could hardly get any air. She stopped fighting the current; she knew it was useless. She was finished.

She felt the current slow slightly, and May slowly sunk. The pressure almost crushed her, but May didn't care. She hardly had the energy to fight back. It felt like she was slowly sinking deeper and deeper, although she was stationary. She knew she didn't have much more time.

Pictures of her friends flashed through her mind. _Misty, __Bethany__, Ash, Drew, Jack, Max, Brock… _May thought, _you were all the best friends a girl could have. I will never forget you. Mom, Dad, I love you, and thanks for supporting me through and through… _

Pictures of her pokemon now flashed before her eyes. _Eevee, bulbasour, Blaziken, Skitty, Beautifly, you were all great pokemon. We sure made a great team. I'm never going to forget you. I hope you never forget me. _

May felt like she couldn't take it any longer. She was dying. Her lungs burned for the oxygen May couldn't give them. Her head was spinning and pounding. She knew she didn't have much time left…

A picture of Drew flashed in her mind._ Drew…_ May thought sadly, but she smiled mentally,_ you were always an arrogant, stuck up jerk. But I couldn't help falling for you. And it's always been like that, from our meeting at Slateport. Ash is nice and stuff, but there's something about you I can't get enough of. You always helped me with coordinating, and you made me feel feelings I had never felt before. I know I'll never forget you._

May felt an unbelievable pain in her chest, and knew that she didn't have much time left.

_Drew, I'm glad I kissed you when I did, no matter how short it was. I guess I jinxed it when I said that I was scared that I wouldn't be there tomorrow. But before I go… _

May felt her lungs beginning to give out.

_I need you to know… _

Spots erupted in May's eyes. She saw a small light in front of her.

_That I think I might be in-_

Pictures of May's Mom, Dad, pokemon, Max, Ash, Brock, Misty, Jack, Bethany, and Drew holding a rose out to her flashed before her eyes one last time, and everything went black.

_MAY! NO! Does anyone feel like crying? Because I seriously am! –sniffle- _

_Next chapter: I'm not telling! _

_Please R&R! _


	16. Saving May

_Chapter 16! _

_Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon _

_Dedicated to: Herbblade _

Chapter 15

Drew saw May about 10 feet under him. Her head was tilted back, and she wasn't moving at all. Drew felt a fresh wave of fury and fear wash over him, and he dove down to catch her.

Drew hooked his arms around May's waist, and all hell broke loose. The current, which had been going slow, picked up faster than ever and flung him down deeper. Drew didn't care what the Astors did to him, he just wanted May to survive. She was too important to him.

Drew kicked furiously up to the surface, and to his shock, he broke through. However, a huge wave crashed over him, obliterating his happiness that he got to the surface. They weren't out of this yet.

Drew started to swim toward shore. But, when he got forward a foot, he was pushed back two feet. Memories suddenly flew into his mind:

_Flashback: _

_"Wobbofet!" A big blue-blob pokemon said, randomly coming out of his pokeball. _

_"AAAHH!" Max cried, startled. He jumped back and accidentally bumped into a button. "Uh, I think I pushed something…" _

_"OH NO! You pushed da hypa engine switch!" Meowth yelled. _

_The submarine suddenly flipped around and shot off at unbelievable speed. They all were pushed against the wall. _

_"Beautifly/Masquerain return!" May and Drew yelled together. Drew gave a quick glace at May, and saw that she looked scared. He mentally promised himself that he would make sure she was O.K. _

_End Flashback _

Drew grit his teeth. He had made sure May was fine then, he would now. He had made a promise. As he tried to swim back to land, more memories of May came back to him.

_Flashback: _

_"That's it! That's the way to earn serious points!" The spiky haired boy Drew now knew as Brock said, congratulating May on her Beautifly's silver wind. Drew had to admit it was really good. "Now- what the-?" Brock said as the bluckberries were suddenly being pulled away. _

_"Prepare for trouble as we reel 'em in!" A woman's voice said. _

_"Make it double, we win!" A man's voice added. A group of two people, a man with blue hair and a woman with purple hair, came floating up from the cliff standing on a Meowth-head air balloon. A meowth was standing between them. _

_"You again?!" Brock said angrily. _

_'They know those people?' Drew thought as he saw the other's faces contort in anger. _

_"To protect the world from devastation-" _

_"To unite all peoples within our nation-" _

_"To denounce the evils of truth and love-" _

_"To extend our reach to the stars above-" _

_"Jessie!" _

_"James!" _

_"Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light!" _

_"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight!" _

_"Meowth! That's right!" the meowth added. _

_"Team Rocket!" The boys Ash, Max, and Brock yelled. _

_"Give those berries back!" May shouted. _

_"Yes, we'll give these berries right back to you after everything we went through to get them!" Jessie called sarcastically. "Sorry, tough luck!" _

_"Yeah, looks like the bluck's on our side!" James called. _

_'That was a stupid pun.' Drew thought. _

_"So good bye!" Meowth said as they turned around, "And GOOD BLUCK!" _

_"WAIT!" Ash called after them. They started to run after Team Rocket. _

_May turned back and said to Drew, "This battle is over. We know someone who needs those bluckberries!" She turned and ran after them, with her brunette hair dancing as she left. _

_Drew groaned to himself. What was wrong with him? Why did he want to go with them? Why did his heart pound when he was around that May girl? Why did he get butterflies when she spoke? _

_Drew sighed, and said, "Come on, Roselia." And started sprinting after them. Roselia gave his master an odd look then ran after him. _

_End Flashback _

Drew growled as another wave crashed on top of him. This whole trying-to-get-killed-by-the-Astors things was getting old. Besides, they had somehow made it back to shore.

"Guys! I got her!" Drew yelled as he carried May a shore and set her down. Misty, Bethany, Ash, and Jack sprinted over. They all looked at her.

Her face was still pretty, but it was a pale blue. "She's not breathing!" Drew said, panicking for a moment.

"Do CPR!" Bethany said, trying hard to not smile. Drew blushed a beet red.

"NO! Is there any other choice?"

"Get the funeral bill estimate?" Jack suggested.

Drew looked down at May's face. Her eyes were closed. Drew remembered that they had always sparkled when she smiled. He would never see that again if he didn't do it…

Drew took a deep breath, pinched her nose, and put his lips on hers.

…J…

May felt something cold and soft on her mouth. She suddenly felt a tingle run through her body, and started coughing up water. Whatever it was pulled away. May opened her eyes. At first everything was black, but then she saw a pair of deep emerald eyes inches away.

"Drew!" May said softly. She sat up, accidentally bumping her head on Drew's nose.

"OW!"

"Sorry." May said hoarsely. For some reason she found it hard to get the words out of her mouth.

"MAY! YOU'RE O.K.!" Bethany and Misty cried.

"What happened? I remember that we were talking, then that storm came, then I got separated from you guys, and I couldn't breathe, and I guess I passed out."

"Drew saved you." Ash explained. May glanced at Drew, who blushed and looked away. "Then, he got back to the shore, and he…er…he had to…"

"What?" May asked. But she was sure she already knew the answer.

"Drew did CPR." Misty said quickly. May turned crimson and glanced at Drew. He was as red as Freidos, and he seemed very interested in the sand under him.

"Oh. Uh, thanks, Drew." May said awkwardly.

"We should go back to camp." Bethany said, grabbing Jack's wrist and pulling him away. Misty did the same thing to Ash, leaving May and Drew alone.

"It's… good you're alive." Drew said awkwardly. He couldn't help but wish May had been conscious when he kissed her. _It wasn't a kiss._ Drew thought sternly to himself.

"Drew…" May said softly. Drew looked at her, with his eyes burning with hope. "Thanks for saving my life." Drew's heart fell. She hadn't said it…

May, in fact, had been going to confess her feelings to him, but she had lost her courage when he looked at her that way. She didn't know how to start.

"Don't worry about it." Drew said, flicking his hair, which sadly lost the effect as it was wet. "Let's go back to camp."

May nodded and tried to stand up, but collapsed into Drew's arms. They both blushed crazily when they realized how close their faces were to each others. May pulled away, and then tried to stand on her feet. She wobbled and fell over. Drew helped her up. "You're not in any condition to walk. Here." He picked May up bridal style. May blushed madly. "Drew," She said one more time. Drew looked at her, and before May actually thought it through, she gave Drew a kiss on the cheek. Drew felt his heart explode with a happiness he could hardly contain. He kissed her on the cheek back, and they walked back to camp with May still in Drew's arms.

_YAY! CONTESTSHIPPYNESS! Is that a word? Who cares, it is now! _

_Please R&R!_


	17. Drew's Memories

_Chapter 17! _

_I can't think of any more Astor's evil stuff, so if you have any ideas, PEASE tell me, because I'm out._

_Disclaimer: _

_Ash: amv4eva doesn't own pokemon _

_Misty: Yep! She has no say about what goes on in the pokemon world. _

_Me: Thanks for making me feel better, guys. What would I do without you? _

_Ash: Your welcome! _

_Me: I was being sarcastic, idiot. Anyway, here we go! _

_Dedicated to: Mystic Mage-chan!_

_This chapter is Drew remembering the times he and May have had. There's a lot of shippyness. And shippyness is my new favorite word. _

_Enjoy! _

Chapter 17

Drew looked out over the ocean. His mind was spinning with worry. He hadn't really realized how much danger they were in until then. Almost losing May really disturbed him. It made him rethink and remember the past:

_Flashback: _

_"Alright, let 'em rip!" Morrison (?) yelled. Fireworks fired up into the sky, exploding and forming the shapes of a pikachu, a pichu, a torchik, a mudkin, and a treeko. _

_Below him, Drew heard May, Max, Ash, and Brock exclaiming that the fireworks were really cool and nice. Although Drew kept his opinion to himself, he thought it was pretty cool, too. _

_Before he really knew what he was doing, Drew turned his head and looked at the brunette haired girl down on the beach. Something inside him made him want to go down there and stand next to her . But what was he thinking? _

_May turned her head and looked up at him. Their eyes locked on, and Drew felt his face heat up. Tearing his eyes away from hers, he looked back up at the sky. His heart was pounding fast, and for some reason, he found it hard to breathe. _

_The fireworks stopped. Drew glanced down at May again, and sighed. "Come on, Roselia." Drew said, walking back to their hotel. _

_Drew walked into his room and went out onto a balcony. He had a pretty good view of the ocean and stars. He wished May was here to see this… Drew shook his head vigorously. What was going on with him? Why couldn't he get that May girl out of his head? _

_"Ros!" Roselia said. Drew looked down, and saw Roselia with his roses folded. _

_"Ros rose roselia ros. (You've got some explaining to do, bud.)" _

_Drew raised his eyebrows. "Huh? What?" _

_Roselia rolled his eyes. "Ros rose roselia rosa rosa ros re ro. (What's up with you? You've been different all day)." _

_"I have?" Drew said nonplussed. "I mean, I can't get… never mind." _

_"Roselia ros rose re roselia. (That girl. It's May, isn't it?)" _

_Drew was surprised to feel his face grow hot. "N-no! I mean, I just met her and I…" _

_"Ros ros. (I'm listening)" _

_Drew sighed. He knew he needed help. "I can't get that May girl out of my head! I just met her, and she's a lousy coordinator, and she's clueless… and she's really pretty and sweet… UGH! What's WRONG with me!?" Drew asked angrily, walking over to his bed and laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. _

_"Ros ros rose roselia. (I think you like her.)" Roselia said, trying not to giggle. _

_Drew sat up. "NO! No way! That's totally impossible! I'm going to bed!" Drew reached over and turned off the light. _

_Drew stared up at the ceiling. Could Roselia be right? Could you really fall for a girl you had only known for a while? He remembered how he had felt when May smiled at him earlier. His world had been messed up since he left home and was getting known, but when she smiled… the world felt right. Like things were the way they were supposed to be. Drew sighed. Maybe he did like her, just a little bit… _

_End Flashback. _

Drew smirked. That memory always made him laugh. He hadn't a clue back then. But then again, liking a girl was a very new emotion to him at the time. More memories came back to him. This one however, was in no way pleasant.

_Flashback: _

_Drew was too far away to hear, but he didn't want to. Harley was talking to May, again. Holding her hands. Drew felt his stomach curl up in jealousy. He had been working on what he was going to say to her all day; he had been planning on telling her how he really felt. But seeing May and Harley like that made him feel sick, and he totally lost all confidence. When he gave May that rose and saw her blush, he had thought he stood a chance. But he and May had never held hands, and Drew had never been able to buck up the courage to try. All he could do was watch as his dreams and hopes fell in the trash. _

_End Flashback. _

Drew scowled. He had always hated Harley, but after that day he had loathed him. He hated his hair, his catcturne outfit, his stupid gay voice. But the thing Drew hated most was two things: One, that Harley had had the courage and nerve to do something Drew had only ever thought about in his sleep, and the other was Harley's true intention.

_Flashback: _

_"That annoying little pipsqueak!" Harley was muttering angrily. Drew, who had been walking over to the T.V. to see how May would do, stopped dead. "Doing better than me, I'll make sure she loses if it's the last thing I do as a coordinator!" _

_Drew felt the blood rush to his head. Harley was being so nice to May… out of REVENGE? He had been playing at May's one weakness, the thing that Drew liked her so much for? Her ability to always try to see the best in people? Drew wanted to walk over and pound Harley on the spot. Instead, he decided on a more rational approach. _

_"Harley?" Drew said as he walked into the room. It was hard to keep the anger inside from showing. _

_Harley jumped, and gave Drew an award-winning, cheesy smile that multiplied Drew's rage by ten. "Drew! I didn't see you there!" _

_"What were you just saying?" Drew asked, pretending he had only heard Harley muttering. _

_Harley's fake smile grew wider. "I was just saying how good little May is doing in the contest!" He pointed to the screen, where the stage and May were covered in sparkles. Drew tore his eyes away from the screen with difficulty. _

_"I thought I heard something else, but O.K." Drew turned and left. He knew he needed to find May and tell her Harley's plan before it was too late. _

_End Flashback. _

Drew felt his insides contract as he remembered the day when Harley stooped to a new low. How anyone could do that to such a caring, trusting girl Drew would never understand. If Drew hadn't been so scared to show his feelings for May, Drew would've pounded Harley to a pulp and made sure he still had the scars next Grand Festival. (Oh, burn) Of course, he and May had had happier times:

_Flashback: _

_"Drew?" A voice said. Drew turned and saw May. His stomach did a back flip. "What're you doing out here?" _

_"Training of course." Drew said, pointing to his masquerain and roselia. _

_"How come you're not at the party?" May asked as if she couldn't imagine someone skipping out on a party. _

_"Robert's off training too, that's why he's not at the party either" Drew answered, avoiding her question. He wanted to try and impress her next contest._

_"Why's Robert practicing? He just won first place!" _

_"That's right. And how do you think he got good enough to do that?" He looked May right in the face. "You always have to keep trying to get better or someone will pass you by." _

_"I guess I never really thought of that." May said thoughtfully. _

_"I'm still determined to be the top coordinator someday." Drew confided. He raised his fist not unlike how Ash would. "Hey, I'm already thinking about attacks I might want to use in next year's festival." _

_"Wow. That's good." May sounded impressed, and Drew remembered how he had wanted to tell her his real feelings. Instead, he decided to drop a hint. _

_"I'm hoping to see you back here next year too, May." Drew said softly as he began to walk away. "You were good. Take care." _

_He walked off down the beach as her friends and Mom came by. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw May looking after him with a blush on her face, along with a small smile. Drew looked back in front of him. His hope had returned. _

_End Flashback. _

"I'm tired" Drew muttered as he stood up to go back to camp.

_HAHA funny ending! I had a lot of fun writing that chapter! Here's a survey: Tell me which flashback you liked the most: _

_1: The one on the night Drew met May. _

_2: The one when Drew was going to explode with jealousy _

_3: When Drew found out what Harley was really up to _

_4: The grand festival moment. _

_I love all of them. _

_Next chapter: Surprise for you all! _

_Note: It will be a surprise for me, too, because I've sort of lost my ideas for now. XP _


	18. The Fire and Almost The Truth

_YO! _

_Everyone, I have bad news. VERY bad news. I'm going to tell the truth: _

_When I visit my Dad in Texas, I go to work with him at 5 am until 4 pm. That's how I post so many chapters in one day. But, back home, I'm grounded from computer. So this is the last chapter I'm going to be posting for a LONG while. I leave today. I'm sorry, and as soon as I get my computer back, I'll write until I can't write anymore. I promise. Once again, I'm really sorry. :'( _

_Disclaimer: _

_Drew: amv4eva doesn't own pokemon. _

_May: What will happen while you're not typing? _

_Me: I'm not sure. Maybe you'll keep going through the chapters. _

_Drew: So May and I are going to kiss until you come back? _

_Me: I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you? _

_Drew: -blushes- yea-NO! _

_Jack: Riiiight, bud. _

_Dedicated to: Everyone. I'll miss you! T.T _

_Also, THANK YOU Girly Girls vs. Pirates for the idea. _

Chapter 18

"MAY WAKE UP, NOW!" Someone yelled. May was snapped awake, and sat up lightning fast. Drew was kneeling next to her, fear spread out all over his face.

"What is it?" May needn't have asked the question. A terrible smell met her nose; the smell of burning wood. May leapt up and held back a scream.

The forest surrounding them was on fire. The heat of the flames was already affecting May, although that could have to do with her almost drowning yesterday. The smoke filled her lungs, burning and making her cough. Misty, Ash, Bethany, and Jack were quickly rolling up their sleeping bags. May saw her own sleeping bag being put in her yellow pack by Misty.

"May, we have to do something!" Misty cried as she tossed the pack to May. She fastened it around her waist and pulled out a pokeball. "Eevee, go!" (A.N. I don't remember if Eevee is really a water type or not, so… sorry XD).) Eevee popped out, and before May said anything, immediately went to work with water gun.

Ash nodded, and pulled out a pokeball. "Go, Corfish!" the crab-lobster pokemon went to work with Eevee.

"Go!" Misty yelled as she threw out all of her pokemon. Corsula, Staru, Golduck, and Magicarp came out.

"Yeah!" Bethany shouted. "Go, Staru!" Their pokemon all came out, and began water gun. The water was doing nothing; on the contrary, they seemed to be feeding the fire. It had closed to form a ring surrounding them. Then Jack did his part.

"GO, GYRADOS!" A huge blue snake-like pokemon came out, and used water blast. The fire rose with anger, blazing ever more furiously. It closed in on them more.

"It's not working!" Jack cried. They all returned their pokemon, everyone of them knowing that they were feeding the fire by fighting it. The water was doing nothing.

May unconsciously grabbed Drew's hand. Misty grabbed Ash's wrist. Bethany and Jack looked into each other's eyes, sparks flying. Fire and Fire…

_Wait a second…_ The logic rushed through Bethany's head and she grinned. _FIRE!_ Bethany grabbed a pokeball. "Go, Ponyta!"

A white horse pokemon came out. It had fire as a mane and tail.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked in shock. Was she trying to kill them faster?

Bethany grinned. "Watch this. Ponyta, use fireball!" A ball of fire erupted from Ponyta's mouth and hit the wall. The fire died down.

Jack gaped. "You're a genius!" He gave Bethany a quick hug and a peck on the cheek (May, Drew, and Misty's eyebrows shot up) and pulled out a pokeball. "Charizard, come on and help!"

"You too, Blaziken!" May cried. The three pokemon, battling together, shot the fire, which died down and ultimately gave out.

They all looked at the burned area surrounding them. It was charred and black. Beyond that, however, the forest was as green as always.

"The Astors." May whispered.

"Who cares? They didn't get us!" Ash cried in happiness. He grabbed Misty's hands and they spun around laughing. Grinning, Drew picked May up and whirled her around. Bethany felt a little jealous of the girls having someone like them the way Ash and Drew did. Her thoughts were interrupted by Jack flinging his arms around her. "YOU'RE THE BEST!" He said jubilantly. The jealousy Bethany felt melted away as she hugged him back. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling she had in her heart.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this nice." A voice said. Their celebration stopped dead. Ash and Misty were still holding hands, May was still up in the air, and Bethany and Jack were still embracing each other in a possibly more-than-friends way.

A man came walking out of the trees. He had ragged pants so dirty they could have been any color. His shirt was also ragged and gray, with a few bloodspots here and there. His long black hair was in a messy ponytail, and his eyes were dark brown, but they were faded, as if he was sad about something. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He gave the impression of a man who had been alone for a long time.

"I'm Nathan. I come in peace. I think I can help you."

…J…

"So, you've been on this island for how long?" Drew asked.

"About a year." Nathan said. They were all gathered around their fire that night, having tried to get away from the sight. "My ship got stuck in a storm, and here I am."

"So," Ash said, skipping to the point. "What is it that you thought you could help us with?"

Nathan sighed. "I need to tell you one thing. I am one of the Astons."

Misty raised her eyebrows. "Come again?"

Nathan sighed. "An Aston is a Titan who goes undercover to try and spy on the Astors. I was with them for a good six months. Well, the information I provided was good, but the six months were terrible. Anyway, the Astors eventually figured out that I was the one who was leaking information, so on my boat they sent out a storm. The storm destroyed my ship beyond hope of repair, but I survived. The reason I survived was simple: I had something to stay alive _for_. That is what you need to know."

"What is the thing that you stayed alive for?" May asked, "Why did it keep you alive?"

"The thing that kept me alive was my wife, Liz. The reason it kept me alive was because I loved her." Nathan's voice was sad. May knew that he was missing her.

"How did love keep you alive?" Jack asked, his brow furrowed.

"Love is the most powerful thing that there is, and the Astors have yet to understand that. None of you would have died. You would have felt the pain and the burn, but you would have survived. You have things that symbolize your love for each other."

"What?" Ash asked.

"Well," Nathan turned to Bethany. " Bethany's ring. That's a perfect example." Bethany looked at the ring. It was brown, which symbolized embarrassment. "Jack gave her that ring, which symbolized his care for her. His sign of friendship, and when I came walking by, seemingly something more." Nathan winked, and Jack and Bethany blushed. "That fire wouldn't have affected you at all. Did you notice that the fire wasn't doing anything to you?" Bethany thought back. Yes, despite being surrounded by fire, she had felt fine. "That was because that ring was given with love. And May," He turned his gaze to May. "Those roses Drew's given you did help protect you, but not the way the ring protected Bethany because Drew never said the roses were for you."

"Beautifly!" Misty cried. "Drew was too shy to admit he was giving the roses to her, so he said they were for her beautifly."

"The roses were for me?" May said, blushing. Drew nodded slightly.

"Anyway, when May was drowning, she wouldn't have died, because Drew cared too much about her." Drew remembered when he broke through the surface. It hadn't struck him that it was strange that he had gotten through. He had been so worried about May because he… Drew mentally slapped himself to keep from finishing this thought and blushed deeply.

"So, you would have survived. Misty and Ash, I don't know what do say about you two. I just don't know you enough. But I can see that you two really care for each other."

"If that's what you want to say." Misty said, blushing lightly.

"Why haven't you seen us?" Drew asked.

"I don't really know." Nathan said. "I guess I didn't think you needed me. After the Astors made another attempt on your lives, I knew I had to tell you something."

"Why are the Astors trying to kill us?" May asked.

"You six are the strongest people here. You all have the power of love with you, and that keeps you going. An unconditional care for one another that will last till the end. Now, it is time I bid you good bye. I'm sorry." Nathan stood up to go. He walked toward the trees. "Oh, and one more thing. To get the answers to your problems, you need to simply look to the sky and into your heart, and you will know what to do."

Nathan walked off, leaving the six teenagers staring after him, wondering what he was talking about.

_So, here's chapter 18. _

_I'm sorry I won't be writing for a while. I hope I can keep you around. If you have any questions about something Nathan said, that's part of the mystery. _

_Here's a hint: Some of the things Nathan said are lies. If you pay attention to what he says, you could learn what he was lying about. _

_I gotta leave, but I'll miss you! I'm sorry, and please forgive me for my chapter missing in the future. _

_Also, I posted some new SPOILER scenes in my profile, so please check that out. Wait until you see the spoilers the review, please. I want you to tell me if you like it or not. Also if you hate me. ;) _

_Please R&R. _

_I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING!! _

_T.T _


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